By

We usebymeaning ‘not later than’ to refer to arrangements and deadlines:

They said that the plumber would be hereby Monday.

The postman is always here by11 am.

We useby the time, meaning ‘when’, to connect an action that has happened or will have happened before a second action. The action that happened second comes afterby the time:

By the time[action 2]you wake up,[action 1]I’ll have finished work!(When you wake up, I will have finished work)

Not:By the time you will wake up…

Unfortunately the man had diedby the timethe ambulance arrived.(When the ambulance arrived, the man had already died.)

When we use the passive voice, we can use a phrase withbyto say who did the action:

The new street was openedby the Mayor.

The wedding cake was madeby Henry’s mother.

We useby+-ingform to describe how to do something:

By pressingthis button, you turn on the alarm system. Thenby enteringthe code 0089, you can turn it off again.

We useby+ noun to describe how someone travels or communicates, or how things are processed:

I’ll send itby email; I can send itby postas well if you wish.

Can I paybycredit card?

We sayby car, by bus, by plane, etc. but if there is a determiner (e.g.a/an, the, some, my, his) before the noun, we sayinoron.

When we sayby + myself,yourself,himself,herself,itself,oneself,ourselves,yourselves,themselves, it means ‘alone’. We sometimes useallfor emphasis:

They painted the whole houseby themselves!(They did it alone.)

I wasall by myselfin the house last night but I didn’t mind.(I was alone.)

Did you build that castleall by yourself?(Did you do it alone?)

We usebyto mean ‘beside’ or ‘at the side of’:

There’s a lovely cafébythe river. We could go there.(The café is beside the river.)

Byandnearhave a similar meaning butbyrefers to a shorter distance:

We also usebyto mean ‘movement past something’:

Three people walkedbythe house as Henry opened the door.(They walked past the house.)

Byas an adverb is often used in this sense:

Lisa waved as she wentby.(She passed the house without stopping.)

We usebyto talk about measurements, and increases and decreases in amounts:

My bedroom is just three metresbytwo metres!(three metres in one direction and two metres in the other direction)

When you work part-time, you are usually paidbythe hour.

The price of fuel has increasedby12% this year.

We sometimes useby+dayandby+nightto mean ‘during the day or the night’:

He worksby nightand sleepsby day.

We usebywhen we talk about the writers of books, songs, poems, symphonies, etc.:

What’s the name of the latest songbyU2?

This website makes worksbyBeethoven available free for downloading.

You will find other meanings ofbyin a good learner’s dictionary.

• Wesayby car, by bus, by planeetc. but if there is a determiner (e.g.a/an, the, some, his), we sayinoron:

They always travelonthe bus.

Not: …by the bus.

• We useby, notwith, to talk about the action of something:

He got into the houseby breakingthe window.(action)

Not: …with breaking the window.

• We usewith, notby, to refer to the object or instrument that we use to do something!

He broke the windowwith a rock.(object/instrument)

Not: …by a rock.