Hello,
Would you please explain the use of by which, with examples? Please
English is not my first language.
Thank you
It’s a way to clarify meaning.
Example:
I like complicated games, by which I mean games that have many detailed rules and require deep strategy.
OR
It can indicate a way to determine the kind of something.
Example:
I can tell the two twins apart by which one has a mole.
“Which” is tricky. It can be used to refer to something that was explicitly mentioned earlier, as in Mahaloth’s first example, or it can be used in a questioning sense, meaning something like “what member of the group?”, as in the second example.
In the first example I would say that by which is a good way to convey the meaning. In the second example the meaning is clear but I can think of several ways to convey the meaning that sound better:
I can tell the twins apart because one has a mole.
The mole on Twin A’s cheek is how to tell him apart from Twin B.
I am saying this not to criticise Malahoth but because their advice will help you in reading and mine (I hope) will help in writing English.
“God is a concept by which we measure our pain.” – John Lennon
“Which” is a pronoun which[sup]1[/sup] refers to the noun[sup]2[/sup] modified by the phrase.
“By” is a conjunction introducing the phrase. As a conjunction, “by” means something like, “the words that follow are the way [modified noun][sup]2[/sup] was done, or the one that did the [modified noun][sup]2[/sup].”
It’s confusing, because “by” is a homonym. It can also be a preposition meaning “near.”
1 Recursive definitions, yay. :rolleyes:
2 (or noun phrase)
By which date would you like an answer?
Great, another meaning–or shade of meaning–of “by.”