are of and is of - English Language Learners Stack Exchange While I was reading a book, the following sentence caught my eye Sincerity and courtesy are of desirable character traits I saw this kind of sentence before, but never fully understood why the
verbs - What is the meaning of is of? - English Language Learners . . . A preposition phrase headed by of is a common way of attributing a quality to a noun, either as a modifier or as a predicate: a man of discretion = a man who ‘possesses’ discretion, “a discreet man” This approach is of value = This approach ‘possesses’ value, “it is valuable” This construction pushes the attributed quality to the end of the phrase or clause, the emphatic