The preposition and the conjunction 以
The preposition 以
The adverb 以 
is used to indicate which way or how to do an action.
Nouns or noun phrases that are placed after this preposition answer the question “how?”.
is used to indicate which way or how to do an action.
Nouns or noun phrases that are placed after this preposition answer the question “how?”.Scheme
以
noun/noun phrase
how?
verb
Pay attention
A noun phrase is a phrase in which the main word is a noun.
Examples
经理您放心，我一定以最快的速度完成
Don’t worry, director! I'll finish as soon as possible
jīnglǐ nín fàngxīn, wǒ yídìng yǐ zuì kuài de sùdù wánchéng
她喜欢以跳绳来热身
She likes to warm up by jumping rope
tā xǐhuan yǐ tiàoshéng lái rèshēn
结果以表格形式列出
The results are presented in tabular form
jiéguǒ yǐ biǎogé xíngshì lièchū
The conjunction 以
以 is used to indicate the purpose of an action. It is placed before a verb or a verb phrase.
is used to indicate the purpose of an action. It is placed before a verb or a verb phrase. Pay attention
A verb phrase is a combination of a verb and an auxiliary word. The auxiliary word can be either an auxiliary verb or an object.
Scheme
action
以
purpose
for what? why?
Pay attention
There is often a comma before 以.
Examples
她想旅行，以开阔眼界
She wants to travel to broaden her horizon
tā xiǎng lǚxíng, yǐ kāikuò yǎnjiè
他们拼命工作以按时完成
They are working hard to finish on time
tāmen pīnmìng gōngzuò yǐ ànshí wánchéng
要经常擦鞋，以保护皮革
You should always polish your shoes to protect the leather
yào jīngcháng cā xié, yǐ bǎohù pígé