We are friends of him.
We are friends of his.
We are friends with him.
Which is right? Do these sentences have the same meaning?
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Sign up to join this communityThe following illustrates the meaning of these phrases in terms of set notation. A more grammatical explanation is covered here: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/45371/why-do-we-say-of-mine-of-his-instead-of-of-me-of-him
We are friends of him. (Wrong)
We are friends of his. This grammar is ok.
The focus is on who "we are", where there may be other friends that he has as well. Here's an explanation using some set notation:
An alternate form of the same sentence is, "We are his friends." This is a more natural sounding sentence, connoting a closer, more familiar relationship.
The reverse, "He is a friend of ours" focuses on "who he is" and has an opposite "ownership" sense:
Again, the alternate form, "He is our friend." connotes a closer, more familiar relationship.
Compare with "Those are cars of his." That means those cars belong to him, but implies he has other cars. However, the sentence "Those are his cars" can imply "Those are (all of) his cars." The difference is based in the common understanding of the world. We know that a person usually has many friends but a limited number of cars.
We are friends with him. This grammar is ok.
The focus is on the relationship, which is mutual. The reverse, "He is friends with us" has a very similar meaning grammatically, but is not used as much.
Note that "We are friends with him" is not as strong as "We are his friends."
We are friends. This grammar is ok.
In this case, there is a speaker indicating mutual friendship among a group of two or more people, including the speaker. It is the short form of "We are all friends with each other."
He's a good friend. This is another form that can be used when "we" or "I" is understood in context:
Psychology Note: It may be interesting to consider a connection between psychology, persuasion, and identity in these language elements. Consider that we change "friend" to "fan", and suppose PersonA says to PersonB, "I am your fan." If this is believed, then a relationship is established:
However, if PersonA says to PersonB, "You are my fan", and if this is believed, then
Where "resource" can be anything from "time", "effort", "admiration", "money", "facebook fans", "twitter followers", etc.
They do mean the same thing, but maybe they are used slightly differently.
Paul is a friend of Jayne.
Paul is friends with Jayne.
In the first example friend is singular as Paul is a friend belonging to Jayne. In the second example friend is plural as Paul and Jayne are friends with each other
I am not a expert in English but I was born in the UK and I speak British English
To say “I am friends with” someone is wrong. I am ___ with him/her requires ___ to be an adjective as in I am happy with him or we are satisfied with her work.
To have an idea of how wrong “I am friends with” is just replace friends with another noun.
I am brothers with him. They are family with us.