1. of与from: 现代英语介词of,出于多种来源。据古英语查考,of相当于from或out of,等于法语de。 因而现代英语中很多of短语,可以用from短语替代。the advice of mother实意为the advice (came) from mother.又如下例:to be born of, come of, receive of, inquire of, require of, demand of.下面两例,摘自辞典:

　　He died of (or from) apoplexy. 他中风而死。

　　He died of (or from) hunger. 他饿死了。

　　2. of可带出动作的执行者,意为by,往往可由其替代:

　　to be beloved of all为众人所爱戴(to be beloved by all)

　　the book of Hugo 雨果写的书(the book written by Hugo)

　　3. of可等同于with或from:

　　Bricks are made of (from, with) clay. 砖以黏土制成。

　　Cloth is made of (from, out of, with) cotton. 布以棉花制成。

　　4. of又可等同于for:

　　to dream of (for) wealth (plearure, happiness, honor, one's future, becoming a millionaire)

　　梦想发财(快乐,幸福,荣誉,前途,当百万富翁)

　　5. of又可等同于on:

　　He came of (on) an errand. 他被差遣而来。

　　of a Sunday = on Sunday

　　of a sudden = on a sudden

　　6. of又可等同于in:

　　lame of one leg= lame in the left (right) leg

　　hard of (in) hearing / approach

　　7. 在表示时间的短语中,of又可等同于in, for, during:

　　of (in) all the day

　　of (during) all the time

　　of (for) late days

　　8. 冗余的of与省略的of:

　　在of组成的顺序动宾结构中,若包含一个动名词V- ing,则of成为冗余(superfluous"of"):

　　He formed his style by reading ( of ) good writers. 他博览名家作品,形成了自己的写作风格。

　　by reading of good writers = by reading good writers. 某些短语本来存在of, 现已不复存在了(omission of "of")

　　inside the door源于in the side of the door

　　beside the bridge源于by the side of the bridge

　　on board the ship源于on the board of the ship

　　某些形容词支配的of短语,左偏右正,of省略后,语义无影响。

　　swift of foot → swift foot

　　quick of eye → quick eye

　　blind of one eye → one blind eye

　　(文/贾德林　英语辅导报大学教师版04~05学年第17期;版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)