Learn English – Optional ‘of’ in various phrases, especially with ‘much/much of’

expressionsmeaningphrasesprepositionsquantifiers

Yes, I know there is a related question here. But that doesn't answer my question.

For each of the following phrases, are they correct?
If not, why not?

What is the OF doing? What part of speech is it? What role does it play in the phrase/sentence? Is there a technical name for this role?

  • somewhat/somewhat of (with a/the)

    a. Joe's somewhat a/the philospher.
    b. Joe's somewhat of a/the philospher.

  • much/much of (with a/the)

    c. Do you know if Sam's much a poker player?
    d. Do you know if Sam's much of a poker player?

    e. Do you know if Sam's much the poker player?
    f. Do you know if Sam's much of the poker player?

  • much/much of

    g. There's much the wolf in you.
    h. There's much of the wolf in you.

  • not much / not much of

    i. I'm not much a writer.
    j. I'm not much of a writer.

  • much/much of (money)

    k. Much money is on the table.
    m. Much of the money is on the table.

  • much/much of (time)

    n. I spend much time on my homework.
    p. I spend much of the time on my homework.

  • much / much of a (difference)

    q. There is much difference between Syndey and Vancouver.
    r. There is much of a difference between Syndey and Vancouver.

  • not much difference / not much of a difference

    s. There's not much difference between Syndey and Vancouver.
    t. There's not much of a difference between Syndey and Vancouver.

Best Answer

The rule is that "of" is used between quantifying determiners and non-quantifying determiners. So if you want to combine words like "much", "many", "few", "either", etc., with articles, demonstratives, or possessives like "the", "my", "those", etc., you will put "of" between them.

If a native speaker doesn't, which may sometimes sound natural in certain dialects, then the "of" is implied.

There is no technical term for this role that I'm aware of. "Of" is always a preposition.

You should be able to go through your list with this rule in mind and figure out for yourself what does and doesn't work.

Edit: I was just looking for some reference material to back up this answer and found mention that the word "all" is an exception to the rule. Both these sentences work:

I spent all my money.

I spent all of my money.

I found this, along with support for the above, mentioned here:

Basic English Grammar, Book 2 By Howard Sargean

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