Page 82 - Basic English Usage

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a) If we want to put a group B determiner before a group A determiner, we
have to use of.

group B determiner + of + group A determiner |

some of the people
each of my children
neither of these doors
most of the time
which of your records
enough of those remarks
Before of we use none, not no, and every one, not every.
none of my friends — every one of these books
We can leave out of after a//, both and haif.
all (of) his ideas both (of) my parents

We can use group B determiners alone (without nouns). We can also
use them with of before pronouns.
‘Do you know Orwell's books?’ ‘Yes, I've read several.’
‘Would you like some water?’ ‘I've got some, thanks.’
neither of them mostofus whichof you
The index will tell you where to find more information about particular determiners.

97 discourse markers

Discourse means ‘pieces of language longer than a sentence’. Some
words and expressions are used to show how discourse is constructed.
They can show the connection between something we have said and
something we are going to say; or they can show the connection
between what somebody else has said and what we are Saying; or they
can show what we think about what we are saying; or why we are
talking. Here are some common examples of these ‘discourse markers’.

by the way
We use by the way to introduce a new subject of conversation.
‘Nice day. ‘Yes, isn't it? By the way, have you heard from Peter?’
talking about ...
We use this to join one piece of conversation to another.
‘| played tennis with Mary yesterday.’ ‘Oh, yes. Talking about Mary,
do you know she’s going to get married?’
firstly, secondly, thirdly; first of all; to start with
We use these to show the structure of what we are saying.