[Grammar] ... she says of a subsequent career

[Gabgab]

Hello everyone, I'm a new member here. I have this little problem about grammar.
I've seen this usage of "of" quite often, but I really didn't bother looking into it, so, as a result, I just don't understand how to use or write it grammatically. And I've searched its usage literally everywhere, but I couldn't find it, thereby leaving me in such a frustrated state these days.

the sentences are:
(1) "I just kept going and went with the flow," she says of a subsequent career that has taken in chart-topping records.
(2) It certainly didn't happen of itself.
(3) She went of her own accord.
(4) Our conversation was of little importance.
(5) The research will be of great interest to many people.

(these are examples I found on dictionaries, but I don't understand them. Are there any grammatical patterns about the usage of "of" after a VERB? I would be much obliged if someone would explain this "strange" usage of "of" and elaborate its patterns with examples. Thanks a lot in advance!)

(I'm still learning English, so if there are any obtrusive grammatical mistakes in here, pls do forgive me and ignore them TT. Thanks.)

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello, everyone.

I'm a new member here. I have [STRIKE]this[/STRIKE] a little problem [strike]about[/strike] with a particular point of grammar.
I've seen this usage of "of" quite often, but I [strike]really[/strike] [strike]didn't bother[/strike] haven't bothered [strike]looking[/strike] to look into it, so [STRIKE], as a result,[/STRIKE] I just don't understand how to use or write it [strike]grammatically[/strike]. [STRIKE]And[/STRIKE] I've searched for information about its usage literally everywhere, but I [STRIKE]couldn't[/STRIKE] find it, [STRIKE]thereby[/STRIKE] haven't been able to find anything useful, leaving me in [STRIKE]such[/STRIKE] a frustrated state. [STRIKE]these days.[/STRIKE]

The sentences are:

(1) "I just kept going and went with the flow," she says of a subsequent career that has taken in chart-topping records.
(2) It certainly didn't happen of itself.
(3) She went of her own accord.
(4) Our conversation was of little importance.
(5) The research will be of great interest to many people.

(These are examples I found [STRIKE]on[/STRIKE] in dictionaries, but I don't understand them. Are there any grammatical patterns about the usage of "of" after a VERB? I would be much obliged if someone would explain this "strange" usage of "of" and elaborate on its patterns with examples.

[STRIKE]Thanks a lot in advance![/STRIKE] Unnecessary. Thank us after we help you, by clicking the "Thank" button.

I'm still learning English, so if there are any [STRIKE]obtrusive[/STRIKE] grammatical mistakes [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] here, [STRIKE]pls[/STRIKE] please [STRIKE]do[/STRIKE] forgive me and ignore them.)

TT. I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

[STRIKE]Thanks.)[/STRIKE]

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

1. Before we continue, please provide the source of each quote (a link to the dictionary entry would be good).
2. Why haven't you bothered to look into it yourself? We encourage all learners to do their own research before asking here.
3. As you can see from my comments and corrections above, we do not ignore mistakes on this forum!

 

[slevlife]

Verb + of isn't a single pattern that we can explain/analyze. So it's best to focus on one example sentence at a time and not dump a lot of examples like this that feel similar to you, but might not to us.

Sometimes the meaning is handled by the variety of standard definitions of the preposition "of" (e.g., "died of hunger" or "robbed of one's money"), sometimes the verb + of are part of an idiom, sometimes the part after the verb (starting with "of") is an idiom (e.g., of one's own accord from your third example sentence), and perhaps there are additional explanations.

Oxford Languages gives the following definitions for the phrase "be of" (which also covers are of, is of, was of, etc.): 1. possess intrinsically; 2. give rise to.

That's a great and concise explanation, but you won't find "be of" on its own in many dictionaries, because each of the many (yet still fairly limited) specific phrases where this is used are probably best thought of as idioms. Otherwise you might try to use "be of" this way with phrases where it doesn't work (e.g., you can say "be of interest" but not "be of joy," and "she is of great help" but not "she is of a lot of help").

 

[Gabgab]

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

1. Before we continue, please provide the source of each quote (a link to the dictionary entry would be good).
2. Why haven't you bothered to look into it yourself? We encourage all learners to do their own research before asking here.
3. As you can see from my comments and corrections above, we do not ignore mistakes on this forum!

This is my first time entering this kind of forum. Thanks a lot for your corrections, I really appreciate it. :crazyeye::crazyeye: I will provide the sources next time.

 

[Gabgab]

Verb + of isn't a single pattern that we can explain/analyze. So it's best to focus on one example sentence at a time and not dump a lot of examples like this that feel similar to you, but might not to us.

Sometimes the meaning is handled by the variety of standard definitions of the preposition "of" (e.g., "died of hunger" or "robbed of one's money"), sometimes the verb + of are part of an idiom, sometimes the part after the verb (starting with "of") is an idiom (e.g., of one's own accord from your third example sentence), and perhaps there are additional explanations.

Oxford Languages gives the following definitions for the phrase "be of" (which also covers are of, is of, was of, etc.): 1. possess intrinsically; 2. give rise to.

That's a great and concise explanation, but you won't find "be of" on its own in many dictionaries, because each of the many (yet still fairly limited) specific phrases where this is used are probably best thought of as idioms. Otherwise you might try to use "be of" this way with phrases where it doesn't work (e.g., you can say "be of interest" but not "be of joy," and "she is of great help" but not "she is of a lot of help").

Thanks a lot for your explanation. I will write it down on my notebook.

 

[emsr2d2]

This is my first time [STRIKE]entering[/STRIKE] on this kind of forum. Thanks a lot for your corrections; I really appreciate it. :crazyeye::crazyeye: I will provide the sources next time.

Thanks a lot for your explanation. I will write it down [STRIKE]on[/STRIKE] in my notebook.

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Please note my corrections above. You can write something on a notepad but you write it in a notebook.