of这个单词，我们都知道，用途非常广泛，是一个高频使用词。其从使用功能上来说，大致可以分为以下几类，下面主要针对难以理解的用法举一些例子来说明。

这种用法其实非常正式，但是大大小小的语法书，几乎都忽略不提，或者语焉不详，或者含糊其词讲不清楚。柯林斯用法词典的定义是，of表示描述，描绘，描写的功能(表示特有的，具有……的特点)，有时候相当于定语，与六的同位用法有细微的差别，注意体会。看看柯林斯是怎么定义的.

2.1 You can sometimes use 'of' and a noun phrase to describe something.instead of using an adjective and a grading adverb.For example,instead of saying that something is 'very interesting',you can say that it is 'of great interest',This is a rather formal use.

有时，你可以使用of和一个名词短语来替代使用一个形容词和一个分级副词来描述某事件。例如，你可以使用of great interest来替代very interesting，这种用法相当正式。在这里，分级副词是指副词的比较级和最高级,very是一个副词，interesting是一个形容词。

再比如：

(1) It will be of great interest to you.

你会很感兴趣。(great interest是名词短语，interest是名词)

(2)The result is of little importance.

结果无足轻重。(little importance是名词短语，importance是名词)

(3) Of infinitely greater value is the direct information given in the works of old phoneticians,grammarians,and spelling reformers.

具有无限大参考价值的第一手资料是来自于古语言学家，语法学家，以及拼法改良家们的工作成果。

( infinitely greater value 无限大的价值，是一个名词短词，value是名词，只是碰巧这里用一个形容词比较级来修饰value，但是合起来这是一个名词短语。)

(4) This conclusion,however much of an anticlimax it may seem,is salutary if it teaches us the different between the objectivity (at least in spirit) of linguistic analysis,and the subjectivity (in the last resort) of critical interpretation.

如果这个结论告诉我们语言分析的客观性（至少在精神上）与批判性解释的主观性（最后的手段）之间的区别，那么这个结论，无论它看起来多么反层进，都是有益的。

( an anticlimax是一个名词短语，意为“反层进法”)

(5) She has the face of an angel.

她有一张天使般的面孔。(从语义来看，重在描述“天使般的面孔”，而不是描述“面孔”和“天使”之间的“所属”关系，an angel是名词短语。注意：名词短语中一般使用不定冠词表示泛指。)

(6) That guy's got the personality of a dead fish!

那个男人实在是无聊透顶、麻木不仁。(a dead fish，名词短语，意为 "呆板的人，面无表情的人"。注意：名词短语中一般使用不定冠词表示泛指。)

(7) a woman of courage.

一位勇气可嘉的女子。（这里，of相当于引导定语，换成“that is或者is”，句子意思明显不通，这就是与六条所讲的同位关系的细微区别，当然“同位关系也是为是方便描述”。）

(8) But despite the rich history, the future of the jaguar is uncertain. Numbers are decreasing, according to the IUCN, which lists the species as near-threatened, and destruction of key habitat is causing populations to fragment, which could lead to extinction across the region.

但尽管历史悠久，美洲虎的未来仍不确定。 根据世界自然保护联盟的数据，数量正在减少，该物种将物种列为近危物种，关键栖息地的破坏导致种群分裂，这可能导致整个地区的灭绝。

(9) The protection and conservation of jaguars also protects a larger landscape where we have different habitats and many other species.

美洲虎的保护和保存也保护了我们拥有不同栖息地和许多其他物种的更大景观。

2.2 When you use an adjective comment on an action,you can put 'of ' and a pronoun after the adjective.The pronoun refers to the person who has performed the action.For example,you can say 'That was stupid of you'.

当你用一个形容词来评价某个行为的时候，你可以将of和代词放到形容词之后。代词就是指做出这种行为的人。例如，你可以说“你那样做是愚蠢的行为”。例如：

(1) It was brave of them.(他们是勇敢的。)

(2) I' m sorry,That was silly of me. (抱歉，我做了蠢事。)

5.1 在文章章节讲解某一主题，或某个主题时常这样用，特别是在一些写得比较早的文章和书籍中，翻译时可以译为“关于”，也可以不显式译出，例如下面例子：

(1) of two kinds. (关于)两种类型。

(2) of adverbs (关于)副词。

(3) of the dialects ，of the saxon area, and of the so-called old saxon。

（关于）方言，撒克逊区域，所谓的古撒克撒

(4) of English language (关于)英语

(5) of us two (关于)我们俩

(6) of you two (关于)你俩

(7) That of the verb substantive, if I were, subjunctive, as opposed to I was, indicative.

(关于)动词性实词，如果我是你，虚拟语气，与我相反，指示语气，关于清晰发音。

(8) Of Snakes in Iceland. (关于) 冰岛的蛇。

(9) of articulate sounds. （关于）清晰的发音。

5.2 其它表示“关于，有关系的”的例子，同样含义可以不显式译出，例如：

(1) Speaking of Elizabeth, here she is. 说伊丽莎白，伊丽莎白就到。

(2) Of her childhood we know very little. 我们对她的童年知之甚少。

(3) And what of (= tell me about) young Adrian? How is he?小阿德里安的情况如何？他好吗？

(4) Far more useful than he knows of，though not exactly in the ways he thinks of. 思考比等现成答案有用，尽管思考方式不准确。

(5) I first acquainted her of the danger. 我第一次就让她认识到这个危险。

(6) Have you heard any news of the tranvellers?To inform his friends of the result.你知道有关旅行者的信息吗？将结果告知他的朋友。

(7) think of a way out.想出一个办法。

(8) complaining of the heat.报警天气热。

(9) He was disposed to thing very well of it. 他对这事很有兴趣。

6.1 表示同位关系时，可译为“……的……”，是并列关系，不是所属关系，例如：

(1) the problem of homelessness. 无家可归的问题。

(2) a rise of two percent in inflation. 通货膨胀率上升2%。

(3) the skill of negotiating. 谈判的技巧。

(4) the difficulty of bringing up twins. 抚养双胞胎的艰难。

(5) the pain of separation. 分离的痛苦。

(6) At the age of six she could read a newspaper. 6岁时她已能读报。

(7) He was disposed to thing very well of it. 他对这件事很有兴趣。

(8) stories of his tranvels. 他旅行的故事。

(9) the true of the matter. 事实真相。

(10) judge of the case. 本案法官

(11) dreaming of home. 回家的梦

(12) knowledge of the past. 过去的知识。

(13) tan prayer rug of a beach. 棕褐色祈祷毯般的海滩。(“祈祷毯”指的就是“海滩”)

(14) the pink and cream of old fortifications. 粉红色和乳白色的旧城堡。(“粉红色和乳白色”指的就是“旧城堡”)

(15) a genius of a pilot. 一位天才般的飞行员。

(16) two months of darkness. 两个月暗无天日的日子。

(17) After officers were called to pick him up, a report came in of an abandoned vehicle near-by, which appeared to have hit two parked cars.

警察被叫去接他后，报告说附近有一辆废弃的汽车，似乎撞到了两辆停着的汽车。

(18) Handing over the phone to the youngster, police said he mimicked driving and made gestures of turning a steering wheel.

警方将电话交给了这名年轻人，称他模仿驾驶并做出转动方向盘的手势。

(19) danger of shrinking

缩小的危险。(在这个语境中，danger is shrinking，或者shrinking is danger，都是合适的。)

6.2 也可以不译出，这样反而通顺一点。

(1) the River of Thames. 泰晤士河

(2) the city of Rome. 罗马城

(3) The floode of Tigris. 底格里斯河洪水

(4) Within the city of Lonfon.在伦敦城内。

7.1 of oneself：表示凭自己的动力或运动，自发地进行的，不是由另一个人鼓动或安排的，例如：

(1) [They] therefore can do nothing good of themselves. 因此，仅靠他们自己，什么事也做不好。

(2) I judged that Robert and you were happy enough of yourselves for the present.

据我判断，Robert和你对你们的现状挺满意。

(3) Matter is of itself entirely passive，incapable of moving itself.

事件本身是被动的，没有自己移动的能力。

(4) I speake not of myself or without booke.或许离开了书本我不会自己表达。

(5) A man of himself Sits downe and bids you welcome to your feast.

一个男子自己坐下来，在你的宴会上对你表示问候。

(6) The Goats…would many of them come of themselves to be milked.

这些母山羊,它们中大部分自己会跑来(让主人)给挤奶。

7.2 用all来修饰，表示(临时性的)条件，可译为“突然，瞬间，完全是”，例如：

(1) The masts and sail yards were all of a flame. 桅杆和帆桁瞬间就燃烧起来了。

(2) She observed ，that…she was all of a muck of Sweat. 她注意到，她一身臭汗。

(3) The poor man，sir，was all of an argue. (不太明白这句含义)

(4)‘Do you say so?’ Smirke said，all of a tremble。Smirke浑身发抖的 说道，“你这样说吗”？

7.3 区分多数中的一个，表示优秀出众，例如：

(1) song of songs.雅歌,歌中之歌。

(2) holy of holies. 至圣所。

(3) so book of books. 此类书中的翘楚。

(4) man of men. 人中龙凤。

(5) heart of hearts.内心深处。

7.4 有时候表示“在其中”，相当于during,例如：

(1) of an evening. 往往在晚上。

(2) of a Sunday afternoon. 在一个星期天的晚上。

(3) The first step taken by Napier in the process of constructing the canon was to form three tables of numbers in geometric progression.The first table consists of 101 numbers, of which 10^{7} is the first, and of which 1-\frac{1}{10^{7}} is the common ratio.（句中的 of which相当于where）

Napier在构建对数法则的过程中所采取的第一步是组成三个几何级数的数字表。第1张表由101个数字组成。(在)其中， 10^{7} 是第一个数，( 1-\frac{1}{10^{7}} ) 是通比(common ratio)。

7.5 充当小品词(particles),用于构成短语动词(整个短语充当动词)，例如：

(1) fond of swimming

喜爱游泳（短语动词: fond of ）

(2) sick of his excuses

厌烦了他的借口 (短语动词: sick of ）

(3) scared of spiders

害怕蜘蛛 (短语动词: scared of )

(4) tell of (谈论）

The old villagers tell of lost sons and daughters sold to keep families from starvation in the old society.

村里年纪大的老乡们谈到在旧社会为饥荒所迫卖儿卖女的悲惨情形。

(5) think of (考虑）

We're thinking of going to HangZhou for our holiday.

我们考虑去杭州度假。