A have been of use in B

Question

Can you help me to understand "A have been of use in B"Dose it mean that A uses B or B uses A?Thanks.

Englishuser · Accepted Answer

Hi Anlanan,

Welcome to the forums. You asked:

Can you help me to understand "A have been of use in B"

Dose it mean that A uses B or B uses A?

What exactly would you like to say?

Anlanan · Answer

I am asking how to understand "A have been of use in B".

BarbaraPA · Answer

A has been useful TO B means that person A has helped person B.

A has been useful IN B means that person A has been helpful in getting project B done.

A has been of use in B doesn't sound natural if A is a person. But if A is a thing, then it has been helpful to have A while doing task B. That screwdriver has been of use in installing that ceiling fan.

Anlanan · Answer

Thank you for the answer.

The original sentence is like "Maven, JDiff, Clirr, PMD, FindBugs and Cobertura have all been of use in the latest release of Commons Lang." at the bottom of webpage: http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/lang/index.html

So according to your explaining, the orginal sentence means that "the latest release of Commons Lang" has used , , , , and ?

Is it right?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Yes, but "to be of use" also carries a meaning that it was helpful.

I can use a piece of equipment that doesn't work well and get through what needs to be done, but if a new tool is given to me and it's helpful, I would say it has been of use.

Khoff · Answer

The original sentence is like "Maven, JDiff, Clirr, PMD, FindBugs and Cobertura have all been of use in the latest release of Commons Lang."

If Maven, etc., are screen names of people, then the sentence is probably trying to thank them or acknowledge their participation in the latest release of Commons Lang., whatever that is. However, it is an awkward way to do it -- saying that a person has "been of use" makes it sound as though you have used them like tools, regardless of their intentions or feelings. It would be better to say that they have participated in the project, or been helpful, or been of assistance.

Philologist · Answer

Please note that they're not screen names but rather computer programs <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Khoff · Answer

Aha!  Thanks for explaining that   -- it that case it would be fine!  Sorry for the digression.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/10.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/10.gif' alt='Emotion: embarrassed'/>

A have been of use in B

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions