By는 일을 어떻게 하는지를 말하기 위해 여러 표현에서 사용합니다:
send something by mail do something by hand
pay by check / by credit card (but pay in cash)
something can happen by mistake / by accident / by chance (but do something on purpose):
Did you pay by check or in cash?
We hadn't arranged to meet. We met by chance.
이 표현들은 관사 (a/an 또는 the) 없이 "by + 명사"를 사용했습니다. "by a chance / by a check"라는 표현은 사용하지 않습니다.
같은 방식으로 by는 어떻게 여행하는 지를 말하기 위해 사용합니다:
by car / by train / by plane / by boat / by ship / by bus / by bicycle 등
by road / by rail / by air / by sea / by subway
Liz usually goes to work by bus.
Do you prefer to travel by air or by train?
on foot:
Did you come here by car or on foot?
my car / the train / a taxi등과 같은 표현에는 by를 사용하지 않습니다. "by + 명사" 형식은 관사나 소유격 대명사를 사용하지 않습니다:
by car but in my car (not by my car)
by train but on the train (not by the train)
자동차와 택시는 in을 사용합니다:
They didn't come in their car. They came in a taxi.
자전거, 오토바이 또는 대중교통(bus, train 등)은 on을 사용합니다:
We came on the 6:45 train.
수동태와 by:
Have you ever been bitten by a dog?
The program was watched by millions of people.
by와 with의 비교:
The door must have been opened with a key. (not by a key) (= somebody use a key to open it)
The door must have been opened by somebody with a key.
a play by Shakespeare / a painting by Rembrandt / a novel by Tolstoy 등:
Have you read any books by Agatha Christie?
By는 "next to / beside"의 의미를 가집니다:
Come and sit by me. (= beside me)
"Where's the light switch?" "By the door."
다음과 같은 활용에 주의해야 합니다:
Claire's salary has just gone up from $2,000 a month to $2,200. So it has increased by $200 / by ten percent.
John and Roger ran a 100-meter race. Roger won by about five meters.