most of it

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "most of it" is grammatically correct and is commonly used in written English.
You can use it when you are trying to indicate that most of something has been done, something is mostly true, or most of something is included. For example, "I finally finished my project - most of it, anyway."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

60 human-written examples

Most of it, anyway.

The New York Times - Sports

— Most of it.

The New Yorker

That's most of it.

The New York Times

Medicare covered most of it.

The New York Times

Most of it is trash".

The New Yorker

Most of it is journalism.

Independent

Most of it was unused.

The Economist

Well, most of it anyway.

The New York Times

Oh God, most of it.

The Guardian

Most of it is interpersonal.

The New York Times

But most of it hasn't.

The Economist

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Ensure the antecedent of "it" is clear to the reader to avoid ambiguity in what is being quantified.

Common error

A frequent mistake is using "most of it" to refer to plural countable nouns. If you are referring to multiple items, you must use "most of them" instead. For example, use "most of it" for "the water" but "most of them" for "the bottles".

Linguistic Context

The phrase "most of it" functions as a quantifier phrase. It consists of the quantifier "most", the partitive preposition "of" and the third-person singular pronoun "it". According to Ludwig, it serves to designate a majority portion of a singular entity or an abstract concept.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

News & Media

65%

Science

15%

Formal & Business

10%

Less common in

Academic

5%

Social Media

3%

Wiki

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "most of it" is an essential and grammatically correct tool in the English language. As shown by Ludwig's extensive database, it is used by world-class publications to quantify portions of singular or uncountable nouns. Ludwig AI confirms that the phrase is highly versatile, appearing in contexts ranging from casual interviews in "The New Yorker" to scientific discussions in "Science Magazine". Writers should simply remember to maintain singular verb agreement and ensure that the pronoun "it" clearly refers to a singular antecedent. If referring to plural items, one should switch to "most of them" to maintain grammatical accuracy.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

the majority of it

More formal and often implies a countable portion of a whole.

the bulk of it

Emphasizes the weight or volume of the majority part.

the greater part of it

A more literary or formal way to describe most of something.

a large portion of it

More descriptive and suitable for formal reports or descriptions.

much of it

Slightly less specific about being more than half, but indicates a large amount.

the lion's share of it

An idiomatic expression meaning the largest portion.

mostly

An adverbial form that simplifies the sentence structure.

almost all of it

Indicates a higher percentage (usually 90%+) than just most.

for the most part

A prepositional phrase used to generalize a situation.

largely

Used as an adverb to describe the extent of a condition or action.

FAQs

How do I use "most of it" in a sentence?

You use it to indicate that a large part of something is true or finished. For example: "The work was hard, but I finished "most of it" by noon."

Is "most of it" singular or plural?

It is treated as singular because it refers to a portion of a singular or uncountable whole. Therefore, it takes a singular verb, such as "Most of it is done" rather than "Most of it are done."

What is the difference between "most of it" and "most of them"?

The difference depends on what you are referring to. Use "most of it" for singular/mass nouns like "the cake" or "the evidence". Use "most of them" for plural countable nouns like "the cookies" or "the reports".

Can I say "the most of it"?

Typically, the definite article "the" is only used in the idiom "make the most of it". In general quantification, you should just use "most of it" without "the".