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Belly Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

To be of?

I have a sentence: it's of an important matter

Why don't why say" It's an important matter" but use this structure here?
  

Top answer

The "of" expresses the problem's belonging to an important matter: This problem/question belongs to an important matter. "To be an important matter" is also ok. EDIT: I am not sure whether you shouldn't say: "to be of important matter" — without the indefinite article.

  • The "of" expresses the problem's belonging to an important matter: This problem/question belongs to an important matter.
  • "To be an important matter" is also ok.
  • EDIT: I am not sure whether you shouldn't say: "to be of important matter" — without the indefinite article.
  • I feel "matter" works better as uncountable here.
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8 Answers
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The "of" expresses the problem's belonging to an important matter:

This problem/question belongs to an important matter.

"To be an important matter" is also ok.

EDIT: I am not sure whether you shouldn't say: "to be of important matter" — without the indefinite article. I feel "matter" works better as uncountable here.
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Yeah, what do people mean by "It's of importance" Is it different from the others?
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All those phrases mean "it is important".
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Why don't people just say" It's important" sole?
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Hi,

I have a sentence: it's of an important matter This is not very idiomatic. If you want to say something like this, more idiomatic would be -

I have a sentence: it's about an important matter.

Why don't why say" It's an important matter" but use this structure here?

I have
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Belly:

Is your example this:
«I have a sentence: it's of an important matter»

or this:
«It's of an important matter»?

It just seems to me that Clive wrongly took the "I have a sentence" clause as part of your example. You just have this entence...

Didn't you mean:

I have a sentence: "It's of an important matter" (with quotes)
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Sorry, perharps my example sentence was wrong. The exact sentence must be:

"It's of importance"
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Hi,

Sorry, perhaps my example sentence was wrong. The exact sentence must be:

"It's of importance"

OK, I see you didn't mean what I thought you meant.

Before we answer, can you provide some more context for your example, to show what 'it' refers to. Do you mean, eg

Please look at this letter.

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