Both or both of?

Posted by Pak Guru on June 17th, 2018 | 0 comments | compare contrast, determiners, IELTS, kedua, keduanya, quantifiers, speaking, writing

Euthanasia may be a good solution for both of patients and their families.

Both/both of follows the same rule as some/some of, all/all of, most/most of, etc. Elsewhere on GuruEAP you can listen to a song that includes examples of most of these (but not, I now realise, both/both of!), plus you can find another post showing how this kind of grammar can be useful in IELTS task 1 writing when describing statistical data.

As usual I suggest you approach this problem lexically – in other words pay close attention to the words (lexis) immediately following these signals. Here are some examples.

Both + plural count noun

• Both systems serve quite different yet very important purposes.
• The route map above displays both route options.
• We had carefully paid cash both places.

Both of + plural object pronoun

• The staff always remembers both of us!
• Do sit down, both of you.
• Both of them are very talented actors.

Both of + the/these/those + plural count noun

• Both of the theories are probably correct.
• Both of those sales were perfectly legal.
• He was honouring both of these men.

Both of + possessive + plural count noun

• This undoubtedly saved both of their lives.
• My mom met both of my kids.
• Industrial logging has hit both of our old growth rainforests hard.

Exceptions

If you’ve already mentioned the two things then you can use both without mentioning the two things for a second time. In this way you avoid repetition and include a bit of sophistication much loved by IELTS examiners. The following examples move from more repetitive to less repetitive.

• I love both of my pets, but it’s hard work looking after both of my pets.
• Primitive – unnecessary repetition of both of my pets.
• I love both of my pets, but it’s hard work looking after both of them.
• Better – pronoun them substitutes for my pets.
• I love both of my pets, but it’s hard work looking after both.
• Better still – both at the end of the sentence implies both of my pets.

You will also often hear people use both + possessive (without of)! However this is quite informal and generally not recommended. Both of the following examples are correct!

• I love both of my pets.
• I love both my pets.

Finally you will often see and hear both + verb, where of them has been left out!

• I love both of my pets.
• Both live in the same ‘pet house’ at the bottom of the garden.

Exercise

Now try this quick exercise.