Get rid of "of"

Question

Hi everyone sorry to bother you,I am wondering if we can get rid of the"of" . For example, we can say "temperature differences" instead of "differences in temperature". So, can I say "the steel thermal capacity", "the steel temperature" ? Or do I have to say "the thermal capacity of the steel", "the temperature of the steel"? In fact, I find using many "of" in the same sentence quite redundant and I wonder how I could remedy that issue.Many thanks,Nicolas

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

NicolasMssorry to bother you

You can omit this. We're here to answer your questions.

NicolasMsSo, can I say "the steel thermal capacity", "the steel temperature" ? Or do I have to say "the thermal capacity of the steel", "the temperature of the steel"?

I did some research with Google Ngrams and Google Books and found that 'steel temperature' and 'temperature of steel' are used about equally often these days.

See https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=steel+temperature%2Ctemperature+of+the+steel&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Csteel%20temperature%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctemperature%20of%20the%20steel%3B%2Cc0
________________

I was unable to get an Ngram for 'steel thermal capacity'. I checked out the first few pages of hits for 'thermal capacity' and found that there are extremely few examples where this phrase is preceded by a noun modifier like 'steel' — almost none, really.
_______________

On the basis of what I found, I suggest that you can safely use 'the steel temperature', but you should probably stick to 'the thermal capacity of the steel'.

CJ

Get rid of "of"

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions