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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006By ... + verb + ed
how to understand the 'by' in the below sentence, By about 1500 we arrived at a system which has remained nearly unchanged until today. thanks. - woody > how to understand the 'by' in the below sentence, > > By about 1500 we arrived at a system which has remained nearly > unchanged until today. It is the statement "By A.D. 1500, we had &c." with a qualifier "about" for 1500, meaning that the year is an approximation of the point at which "we arrived" &c". "By 1500", in turn, means (as my desk dictionary puts it) "no later than"--as in "Be home by 10 p.m." > > how to understand the 'by' in the below sentence, > > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > "By 1500", in turn, means (as my desk dictionary puts it) "no later > than"--as in "Be home by 10 p.m." thank you. i think you are right after check the context. > how to understand the 'by' in the below sentence, > > By about 1500 we arrived at a system which has remained nearly > unchanged until today. I don't know what your native language is, but I know some languages use the equivalent of "until" for this "by", even though, to my mind, it is not quite the same.  SignatureRob Bannister > > how to understand the 'by' in the below sentence, > > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > the equivalent of "until" for this "by", even though, to my mind, it is > not quite the same. IMHO, 'unit' is often used, for the similar purpose, with 'NOT'. am i right? so the above can be changed to: until about 15000 we did not arrived at a system .... ain't it right? > > > how to understand the 'by' in the below sentence, > > > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > ain't it right? You may have set a new record for sheer density of confusion in one short paragraph. To begin with, it's clear you mean "until," not "unit." Second, you're going to have to learn to use the shift key for more than initialisms. Third, with "did" carrying the sense of past time as the auxiliary, "arrived" should be "arrive." Fourth, the year 15000 is far in the future; might you have intended to write "1500"? But most important of all, even with "arrived" and "15000" fixed, your suggested version is unidiomatic. The simplest correction would result in "Until about 1500, we had not arrived at a system." There are other, better versions, but enough is enough. What is your native language? SignatureBob Lieblich Native English speaker |
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