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Stenka25 Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary
Unusual usage of ‘of’
The passage below is form the following website.
The two neighboring sentences have “hours’ work” in the first sentence and “hours’ of work” in the second. I know the author uses the same expression in different way so the passage don’t look boring.
What I want to ask is ‘hours’ of work’.
I’m not sure the usage of “of” in this sentence.
“Of and the following noun phrase” in a sentence usually modify the preceding noun as in “the role of the teacher”.
But in this sentence it seems that the preceding “hours’ of” modifies “work”. Can you explain the mechanism of this phrase with another example sentence, if you can?
http://www.epubbud.com/read.php?g=H8AVF5J5&p=6
Had you been using a kerosene lamp in the 1880s, you would have had to work for about fifteen minutes to get the same amount of light. A tallow candle in the 1800s: over six hours’ work. And to get that much light from a sesame-oil lamp in Babylon in 1750 BC would have cost you more than fifty hours’ of work.
The two neighboring sentences have “hours’ work” in the first sentence and “hours’ of work” in the second. I know the author uses the same expression in different way so the passage don’t look boring.
What I want to ask is ‘hours’ of work’.
I’m not sure the usage of “of” in this sentence.
“Of and the following noun phrase” in a sentence usually modify the preceding noun as in “the role of the teacher”.
But in this sentence it seems that the preceding “hours’ of” modifies “work”. Can you explain the mechanism of this phrase with another example sentence, if you can?
http://www.epubbud.com/read.php?g=H8AVF5J5&p=6
Had you been using a kerosene lamp in the 1880s, you would have had to work for about fifteen minutes to get the same amount of light. A tallow candle in the 1800s: over six hours’ work. And to get that much light from a sesame-oil lamp in Babylon in 1750 BC would have cost you more than fifty hours’ of work.
Top answer
Stenka25 But in this sentence it seems that the preceding “hours’ of” modifies “work”. Can you explain the mechanism The apostrophe with 'of' is a typing mistake. These are the correct choices: fifty hours' work fifty hours of work
- Stenka25 But in this sentence it seems that the preceding “hours’ of” modifies “work”.
- Can you explain the mechanism The apostrophe with 'of' is a typing mistake.
- These are the correct choices: fifty hours' work fifty hours of work
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2 Answers
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Stenka25But in this sentence it seems that the preceding “hours’ of” modifies “work”. Can you explain the mechanismThe apostrophe with 'of' is a typing mistake. These are the correct choices:
fifty hours' work
fifty hours of work
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