Page 1 of 1

by car /with car

Posted: 03 Dec 2007, 14:56
by jazzy
Hi!

I was wondering if 'by' is the only prepositions used when you want to say e.g.: "I was driving by car for two hours yesterday. "
Is it possible to say also "with car"?

Thanks for the reply!

Posted: 06 Dec 2007, 15:46
by rainbow4
Hi there

it's not possible to say with car.

Other prepositions you can use:

"I went to Los Angeles in my car, it took two hours"

:D

Re: by car /with car

Posted: 26 Jan 2008, 15:47
by lxguy
Is that possible to say "I went to Los Angeles with a/my car,..."?

Re: by car /with car

Posted: 28 Feb 2008, 17:49
by Goober
I would usually say "I went to LA in my car"

I might say "I went to LA by car" if i wanted to be clear they i didn't fly there or something/

Re: by car /with car

Posted: 18 Jun 2008, 16:48
by systematic
Maybe this short summary will help:

If the emphasis is on whose car, or which particular car you went in, then it would be correct to say:

I went to Los Angeles in my/Peter"s/his/a rented car.

If the emphasis is on the fact that you travelled in a car and not by any other form of transport, then Goober"s example is correct:

I went to Los Angeles by car (I did not go by train, or by boat).

It is not normal in English to say:
I went to Los Angeles with a car.
with is used to express accompanied by as in:
I went to Los Angeles with my girlfriend.

Re: by car /with car

Posted: 10 Apr 2009, 10:53
by maropo
i am going in my car on holiday to spain :

Re: by car /with car

Posted: 07 Aug 2009, 07:43
by niki99
Hi, there,
I'm a new member, but I'll try to put forward my ideas on the topic:

I totally agree with all the aforesaid, I just can't help observing that in a number of movies I've heard: "I'm here with my car."
I don't find it unusual or ungrammatical, really.

Re: by car /with car

Posted: 10 Nov 2009, 13:35
by Loulou
Hmm, to me "I'm here with my car" means that the person speaking is somewhere accompanied by his car as if his car is a person. This should only be used for people not objects. People do say "I came here with my car" but it isn't correct grammatically. They should say "I came here by car".
Well, spoken and written english can be so different sometimes and people do say loads of things that are accepted even if they aren't correct grammatically speaking!