MOST OF vs. MOST   大半の

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We're almost at the end of the week already. It sure has been going by quickly, hasn't it? Of course, a three-day weekend ending on Monday always helps speed things up.

But we've still got a couple of WordMasters for you before the week ends. Here's the first!


Most of and most have the same meaning: "more than 50% of" or "nearly all of", depending on the situation and speaker.* But they are used a little differently.

Most of is followed by either a plural or uncountable noun with a word like "my", "the", or "those" before it (for example, most of OUR FRIENDS, most of THE SNOW). Most of can also be followed by a pronoun (for example, most of US, most of THEM).

When the "of" in most of is dropped, most is followed immediately by a noun (or adjective + noun); for example, most CATS, most YOUNG MOTHERS.

* See the 10 October 2001 WordMaster, "ALMOST vs. MOST".

Most ofmost は、意味は同じです。どちらも状況や話し手によって、50%を超えるという意味で使われたり、ほとんどという意味で使われたりします。* 用法は以下のように少し違います。

most of の次には名詞の複数形、または数えられない名詞がきますが、名詞の前に my、the、those などを付けます。例: most of OUR FRIENDS (友達の大半)、most of THE SNOW (雪の大半)
most of の次に代名詞が来る場合もあります。例: most of US (我々の大半)、most of THEM (彼らの大半)

of なしの場合は、most の次にすぐ名詞(または 形容詞+名詞)がきます。例: most CATS(大半の猫)、most YOUNG MOTHERS(若い母親の大半)

* 2001/10/10のWordMaster "ALMOST vs. MOST" 参照
 
 
1.Most of the places I've seen in Japan are lovely.
2.Most tourist sites in Japan are crowded during Obon.
3.I'm pretty tired most of the time. My wife says I work too hard.
4.I wake up quite early on most days. Usually I set the alarm for 5:30.
5.My boyfriend, Tom, gets along well with most of my friends.
6.a:How does Tom get along with your friends?
b:He gets along well with most of them.
7.Tom gets along well with most people. He rarely gets irritated or upset.
Enjoy the rest of the day!

今日の WordMaster はいかがでしたか。同じカテゴリーの言葉をもっとご覧になりたい方はこちらまで:Commonly Confused Words