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Of is also commonly used in two very
different ways
with numbers. One way shows part
of a group:
one of my
friends
two of their
children
ten of the
new students
about a hundred of the letters
nearly 1,000 of the citizens
When numbers are used with
of in this way, notice that
| 1. |
|
the meaning refers to part of a group:
one of my friends = one from
the total
number of my friends (I have more than
one friend).
ten of the new students =
ten from the
total number of new students (There
are
more than ten new students).
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| |
|
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| 2. |
|
there is a determiner after
of and before
the noun:
right:
one of my (the, Bob's, etc.) friends
wrong:
one of friends
right:
about a hundred
of
the (my, the president's,
etc.)
letters
wrong:
about a hundred
of letters
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In
addition, of is also used in a very different way
with
numbers:
hundreds of people
thousands of mosquitos
millions of dollars
billions of stars
etc.
This special use of of means 'several (number) (noun)':
hundreds of people = several
hundred people (probably
300 or more people but
fewer than 1,000 people)
thousands of mosquitos = several
thousand mosquitos
(probably 3,000 or more mosquitos
but definitely
fewer than 1,000
mosquitos)
Special
Note:
Two related expressions are
also used in the
above way:
tens of _____ (probably thirty or more but definitely
fewer than 100)
scores of _____ (probably 60 or more but fewer
than
100)
( A
score
=
20.)
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