“of” after be

[KMA8622]

Hi,

I was looking at a word “disparaging” in a dictionary and found a grammar that doesn’t make sense to me, which is “of” just after be.

disparaging /dɪˈsparɪdʒɪŋ /
▸ adjective expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory:
disparaging remarks about council houses.

I also notice that people say like “wonder if it is of your interest”.

To me, English is the second language, it looks still correct and makes sense without having this type of “of”.
(Am I right in thinking that taking out this “of” doesn’t make the sentence grammatically incorrect?)
Could you tell me how should I interpret the function and meaning of this type of “of”?

 

[jutfrank]

▸ adjective expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory

(Am I right in thinking that taking out this “of” doesn’t make the sentence grammatically incorrect?)

No, you're not right. If you remove 'of', the sentence becomes ungrammatical.

Could you tell me how should I interpret the function and meaning of this type of “of”?

Meaning: to be of little worth = to be worth little = to have little value

Function: 'of little worth' is a preposition phrase functioning as an adjectival complement.

There are innumerable similar such 'of'-phrases that can be used after copula 'be'. Here are just a few that come to mind:

of no use
of great importance
of primary concern
of profound significance

 

[teechar]

I was looking at a looked up the word “disparaging” in a dictionary

I also notice that people say something like “wonder if it is of your interest”.

No. You probably came across "... wonder if it is of interest to you" or possibly "... wonder if it is in your interest". Those mean different things.

Please always tell us where you come across such phrases or definitions.

 

[KMA8622]

▸ adjective expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory

No, you're not right. If you remove 'of', the sentence becomes ungrammatical.

Meaning: to be of little worth = to be worth little = to have little value

Function: 'of little worth' is a preposition phrase functioning as an adjectival complement.

There are innumerable similar such 'of'-phrases that can be used after copula 'be'. Here are just a few that come to mind:

of no use
of great importance
of primary concern
of profound significance

▸ adjective expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory

No, you're not right. If you remove 'of', the sentence becomes ungrammatical.

Meaning: to be of little worth = to be worth little = to have little value

Function: 'of little worth' is a preposition phrase functioning as an adjectival complement.

There are innumerable similar such 'of'-phrases that can be used after copula 'be'. Here are just a few that come to mind:

of no use
of great importance
of primary concern
of profound significance

Hi,

Thank you so much.
That now all makes sense to me.

Then another question is what nuance those expression bring.
Do you feel anything different between “to be of little worth” and “to be worth little”?
Or should I use and interpret them as the same meaning?

 

[KMA8622]

No. You probably came across "... wonder if it is of interest to you" or possibly "... wonder if it is in your interest". Those mean different things.

Please always tell us where you come across such phrases or definitions.

Hi,

Thank you for the correction.

You must be right for the expression of “of interest”. I sometime come across this expression in business discussion but do not really remember what the conversation was.
(Can I use the different tense in this context?)

You mentioned that;
“You probably came across "... wonder if it is of interest to you" or possibly "... wonder if it is in your interest". Those mean different things.”

How different do those mean? It looks to me that just a matter of a way of expressing and sounds totally same in those.

 

[teechar]

How different do those mean?

No. You should ask "How are they different?". Note that "How different are they?" asks about the degree of difference between two things. For example,
A: How different are these shirts from the ones in the shop next door?
B: They're totally different. (or) They're fairly similar. (or) They're identical.

To answer your question, those expressions are very different. For example,

A: Did you manage to find me any 19th century stamps in that shop?
B: I only found this one. I wonder if it is of any interest to you. [ I wonder if it is the kind of stamp you are looking for]
------------------------------
A: I am going to sue the college in court for negligence.
B: I am not sure that would be in your interest. [ That may be disadvantageous to you]

It They look to me that just a matter of a like two way of expressing and sounds totally asking the same thing. in those.

No. See above.