The difference between most and most of:
Suppose an earthquake happened and I wanted to report about what happened to the residents in a country, can I say most of the residents were at work when the land had suddenly started shaking or must I say rather most residents instead? And by the way just other questions came to my mind while typing: Is it correct to use past perfect in the sentence above or should I say "started" only? Which is better to use started shaking or started to shake? Is "shake" the proper word here ? And is it better to use earth instead of land above?
3 Answers
must I say rather most residents instead?
most of the residents were at work
Technically, most people (without the 'of') is more of a general statement. Most people (people in general). If you say "most of", you should use it when referring to a specific group. So in this case, I would use "most of".
Either way, though, you will be understood perfectly! Don't get too caught up in trying to figure out the difference between "most" and "most of" because I bet most native English speakers don't know the difference.
Which is better to use started shaking or started to shake
Both are correct. There is no difference in this sentence. Shake is the perfect verb to use here.
And is it better to use earth instead of land above
Earth is a much better choice.
"Most of the residents" a mi me suena mucho mejor que "most residents" aunque ambos son aceptables. Started shaking or started to shake - Cualquiera de los son buenos. Earth me parece bien. Por cierto, La oración suena mejor sin "had"
..............most of the residents........ and ..........most residents............. are both ok in this context
..........started shaking ........ and started to shake ................ are both ok in this context.
Land is also ok - but you could use - the earth.
