1
The most people use smartphones every day.
Most people use smartphones every day.
Use most + noun to mean ‘the majority of’: ‘most people’, ‘most students’, ‘most information’.
Use the most + adjective/adverb to form a superlative: ‘the most expensive phone’, ‘the most carefully’.
We can also use the most + noun to mean the greatest number or amount: ‘This class has the most students.’
2
Nowadays, most of the teenagers use social media every day.
Nowadays, most teenagers use social media every day.
Use most + noun to talk about people or things in general: ‘Most teenagers use social media every day.’
Use most of the + noun to talk about a particular group: ‘Most of the teenagers in my class use social media every day.’
In the red sentence, no particular group of teenagers has been mentioned. The intended meaning is teenagers in general, so we use most teenagers, not most of the teenagers.
3
Most of people use instant messaging these days.
Most people use instant messaging these days.
Do not use of directly before a general noun. Use most + noun: ‘most people’, ‘most countries’.
Use most of before words such as the, these, those, my and our: ‘most of the people’, ‘most of these countries’, ‘most of my friends’.
We also use most of + pronoun: ‘most of us’, ‘most of them’.
Check our grammar lesson on most, most of and the most.