0
Mr. Tom Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

The use of "by way of"

Hi

Does the use of "by way of" sound natural here? Any suggestion is OK.

Whatever he earned by way of house rent was spent on his health issues.

Thanks,

Tom
  

Top answer

Mr. Tom Whatever he earned by way of house rent was spent on his health issues. Hi, Tom.

  • Mr.
  • Tom Whatever he earned by way of house rent was spent on his health issues.
  • Hi, Tom.
  • That's a tough one.
  • I'd say it works, but it's not ideal.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

3 Answers
0
Mr. TomWhatever he earned by way of house rent was spent on his health issues.
Hi, Tom.

That's a tough one. I'd say it works, but it's not ideal.

I'd probably use "in the form of." OR "in the way of."

I usually use "by way of" to describe a more active action.

He took me to the conce
0
Hello there!

The way you have used "by way of" is not incorrect, and does sound natural. What does not sound perfectly natural is what follows.

I would instead say "Whatever he earned by way of renting his house was spent on his health issues"

The issue with the sentence is that when you speak of something in terms of "by way of", you need to use the present participle o
0
"He took me to the concert by way of showing his appreciation."
I believe this is backwards. Wouldn't he show you his appreciation by way of taking you to the concert? Since the act of taking you to the concert is his way/means of showing you is appreciation. E.g., "He showed me his appreciation by (by way of) taking me to the concert."

Related Questions