"by the use of..." or "by use of..."

Status
Not open for further replies.

zorank

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2011
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Croatian
Home Country
Croatia
Current Location
Sweden
Which sentence is correct, (1) or (2), or both?

(1) "Yesterday, I cut the grass by the use of my new lawn mower."

(2) "Yesterday, I cut the grass by use of my new lawn mower."

Regards
Zoran

p.s. I know it would be better to say "...using my new lawn mower" but I am interested in the specific phrase "by the use of" or "by use of".
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Which sentence is correct, (1) or (2), or both?

(1) "Yesterday, I cut the grass by the use of my new lawn mower."

(2) "Yesterday, I cut the grass by use of my new lawn mower."

Regards
Zoran

Neither.

I would use any one of the following:

Yesterday I cut the grass with my new lawnmower.
Yesterday I cut the grass using my new lawnmower.
Yesterday I cut the grass by using my new lawnmower.

The third sentence, using "by", is the least natural of the three.
 

zorank

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2011
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Croatian
Home Country
Croatia
Current Location
Sweden
Are there examples where "by the use of" and "by use of" would be natural?
 

5jj

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
Czech Republic
Current Location
Czech Republic
Are there examples where "by the use of" and "by use of" would be natural?
COCA has 206 examples of 'by use of' and 533 of 'by the use of'. I didn't spot any with 'lawnmower'.
 

zorank

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2011
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Croatian
Home Country
Croatia
Current Location
Sweden
Gee! Many thanks! I checked the site and it is just great! Seeing examples how phrases are used helped a lot!
Z.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top