Timeline for Why is "of" dropped in 'as X (of) a something'?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| May 3, 2016 at 13:53 | comment | added | supercat | Things like "half" could serve as adjectives, as in "a half-cup" or "one half-cup", and may be used with or without "of", typically with slightly different meanings. I would tend to read "half a cup" as representing a quantity, and "half of a cup" representing a fraction of an actual whole measured cup which has an "other half", as in "Put half of a cup of flour into a saucepan and spread the other half on the counter". Such usages aren't always precise, however, and the appearance and disappearance of "of" in such places may lead to a perception that the word is optional elsewhere also. | |
| May 3, 2016 at 1:13 | review | First posts | |||
| May 3, 2016 at 1:17 | |||||
| May 3, 2016 at 1:10 | history | answered | Caleb | CC BY-SA 3.0 |