单词by在英语中非常常见，在很多情况和语境下都有它的出现。大多数时候by是作为介词使用，但也可以当做副词使用。在这篇文章中，我来说说by作为介词最常见的几种用法。
“by” + place
Here it means:beside, at the side of, next to, close to
examples:
The house is by a river.
David lives by a train station.
I would love to live in a house by the sea.
“by” + method of transport
This structure describeshow you travel somewhere.
by + train
car
boat
plane
taxi
bus
coach
examples:
David went to Manchester by train.
I go to work by car.
My parents often go to France by boat.
Our children have never travelled by plane before.
“by” + method of communication
This structure describeshow you communicate with someone.
by + telephone
post
fax
examples:
I spoke to her by telephone.
I will send you the invoice by post.
Please confirm the order by email.
“by” + method of payment
This structure describeshow you pay for something.
by + credit card
cheque
examples:
We paid for the computer by cheque.
Can I pay by credit card?
Note that we do not use “by” for cash payments. We use the preposition “in”:
David paid in cash for the newspaper.
It is also possible to omit the preposition completely, particularly in spoken English:
David paid cash for the newspaper.
“by” and the passive
In the passive voice, “by” indicatesWHO is doing the action.
First, let’s look at a sentence using the active voice:
David is cleaning the kitchen.
In the above sentence, “David” is the person doing the action. When we convert this sentence to the passive voice, we say:
The kitchen is being cleaned by David.
Here are some more examples. These are in the past tense:
Sarah wrote the book.(active)
The book was written by Sarah.(passive)
Our school organised the concert.(active)
The concert was organised by our school.(passive)
“by” + reflexive pronoun
by + myself
yourself
himself, herself, itself
ourselves
yourselves
themselves
This structure means to do something alone.
examples: