Most/Most of

A2 Elementary

Use 'most' and 'most of' to talk about the majority of a group or quantity. These quantifiers indicate nearly all of something without specifying an exact number.

Overview

Most is used to talk about things in general. Most of is used to talk about a specific group of people or things. Use the most to form the superlative when comparing three or more things.

Form

most + noun / most of + determiner + noun

Use most directly before a noun for general statements. Use most of before determiners like the, my, this, or pronouns like us or them.

General vs. Specific

Never use 'of' if there is no determiner or pronoun following it.

Structure	Usage	Example
most + noun	General groups	Most children like chocolate.
most of + the/my/these	Specific groups	Most of the children in this class like chocolate.
most of + pronoun	Specific people/things	Most of them are here.

Examples

Common mistakes

Most of students live near the school.
Most students live near the school.
Do not use 'of' when speaking about a general group without a determiner like 'the'.
The most of my friends are teachers.
Most of my friends are teachers.
Do not use 'the' before 'most of' when it functions as a quantifier.

Practice

___ cities have a lot of traffic. (Most / Most of)
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Most
Answer:Most
Why:We use 'most' without 'of' because we are talking about cities in general, not a specific group.
I spent most ___ my time at the beach.
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of
Answer:of
Why:We use 'most of' because it is followed by the determiner 'my' and a specific noun.
Most ___ us prefer tea to coffee.
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of
Answer:of
Why:We must use 'of' when 'most' is followed by a pronoun like 'us', 'you', or 'them'.