1.若所修饰的名词前没有限定词,通常要用most,不用most of。如:
Most people agree with me. 多数人同意我的意见。
但是,在习惯上不带冠词的专有名词(如人名和地名等)或抽象名词(如学科名词等)前,要用most of,不用most。如:
Most of Wales was without electricity last night. 昨天夜里,威尔士多数地区都停电了。
2.若所修饰的名词前带有限定词,则用most of,不能只用most。如:
Most of my friends live abroad. 我的朋友大多数住在国外。
注意要不按汉语思维电影,将限定词放在most之前。如:
误:My most friends live abroad.
对于可数名词来说,如果是单数形式,不能直接在其前使用most,而应使用“most of+限定词+单数可数名词”的形式。如:
It was wet and windy for most of the week. 一周大半时间都是又下雨又刮风。
3.若直接用在代词之前,要用most of,不用most。如:
Most ofus thought he was wrong. 我们大多数人认为他错了。
注意,在关系代词前也只能用most of,不用most。如:
The buses, most of which were already full, were surrounded by an angry crowd. 公共汽车大多数都已经挤满了人,它们被愤怒的人群包围着。
另外,在连接代词what引导的从句前也是用most of,不用most。如:
I learned most of what I know about gardening through trial and error. 我的大部分园艺知识都是通过不断摸索学到的。
4.如果意思明确,most后所修饰的名词可以省略,但most of后所修饰的名词永远不能省略,也就是说,如果是不修饰名词而单独使用,只能用most,不用most of。如:
Some potatoes have been harvested, but most are still in the ground. 一些土豆已经收获了,但大多数仍然在地里。
5.most (of) …用作主语时,其谓语的数需根据它所修饰或代表的名词的数来确定。如:
Most of her books were stolen. 她的大部分书被偷走了。
6.most与most of修饰名词时有时在含义上有差别,即前者多表示泛指,后者多表示特指。比较():
Most people like to spend Christmas at home. 多数人喜欢在家里过圣诞节。
The most pleasurable experience of the evening was the wonderful fireworks display.
这个晚上最让人高兴的就是精彩的焰火表演。
Early American weathervanes were most often cut from flat wooden boards.
美国早期的风向标大多截自平直的木板。
Most of the wine was unfit for human consumption.
这些酒中大部分都不适于人类饮用。
Most of the town was destroyed.
小镇的大部分地区被破坏了。
Most of the books were missing.
大部分书都找不着了。