By

Question 1

something happens (complete it)

opposite = ?

Answer 1

by chance/accident/mistake

on purpose (= you mean to do it)

Question 2

travelling

Answer 2

a) We use “by” to say how somebody travels

by car/by train/by bike etc.

BUT

on foot (= a piedi)

b) We do not use it if we say MY car/ THE train/ A taxi/ THAT plane etc. (= they follow the same logic of space prepositions)

They didn’t come in THEIR car

We travelled on THE 6.45 train

Question 3

How to do things

Answer 3

We use by to say how we do something:

send something by post - pay by card/ by cheque - do something by hand (= a mano)

BUT

We say pay cash/ pay in cash

Question 4

passive

Answer 4

a) something is DONE by…

I was bitten BY a dog

The programme was watched BY millions of people

b) by vs with

with = the door must have been opened with a key/great effort (= somebody used a key/great effort to open it - the means you do st)

by = the door must have been opened by somebody with a key (= focus on the person/agent)

c) something is MADE by s/st

a play by Shakespeare, a novel by Tolstoy etc.

WHO is this painting BY? Picasso?

Question 5

position

Answer 5

next to/beside

The light switch is by the door

Come and sit by me (= next to me)

Question 6

difference

Answer 6

to show difference between two things

Clare’s salary has increased BY ten per cent (= it’s now ten per cent more than before)

I missed Kate BY five minutes (= I arrived 5 minutes after Kate had passed)

Carl won by five metres (= he was five metres in front of the other runners)