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Lereve Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Difference between 'of' and 'about'

hi,

what's the diff. btw 'of' and 'about'

for example,

I've been thinking of you

I've been thinking about you

thanks in advance,
  

Top answer

Hi Anon The expressions "think of" and "think about" are frequently used differently, however your examples mean basically the same thing to me. Without a continuous verb form, I think the difference would be easier to see: "think of" is often used to refer to a complete thing or act, and "think about" is more likely to be used to refer to an activity or on-going process. For example: I have thought of a solution to the problem.

— Yankee

  • Hi Anon The expressions "think of" and "think about" are frequently used differently, however your examples mean basically the same thing to me.
  • Without a continuous verb form, I think the difference would be easier to see: "think of" is often used to refer to a complete thing or act, and "think about" is more likely to be used to refer to an activity or on-going process.
  • For example: I have thought of a solution to the problem.
  • => This suggests to me that a solution has already been found.
  • My thinking is now complete, and I now know how to solve the problem.
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3 Answers
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Hi Anon

The expressions "think of" and "think about" are frequently used differently, however your examples mean basically the same thing to me.

Without a continuous verb form, I think the difference would be easier to see: "think of" is often used to refer to a complete thing or act, and "think about" is more likely to be used to refer to an activity or on-going process. For ex
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hi,

thanks Yankee.

your clarification definitely helps.

one question, what do you mean when you say "without a continuous verb form"? can you give me an example?

One more regarding 'of'.

what about in this sentence, "we will then jump to Finnis's discussion of how we know what is good for humans". why not use about instead?

also,
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lereveone question, what do you mean when you say "without a continuous verb form"? can you give me an example?
The following are all examples of continuous verb forms:

I am thinking = present continuous
I was thinking = past continuous

I have been thinking = present perfect continuous
I will be thinking =
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