Please explain the usage of "be of ~ing"

Question

My earliest memory is of sitting outside our hut. I was probably three and a half or four.

what is the function of "of"

if i dont put "of" there, is it wrong?

it tells the memory is a part of his memories in the past?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

I have many fond memories of my mother.
The prepositional phrase, "of my mother," modifies "memories" and describes what memories I am talking about. These memories are all related to my mother.

I have many fond memories of my mother telling me stories of her childhood.
The prepositional phrase, "of my mother telling me stories of her childhood" describes in even more detail what memories I am talking about. I remember many times when my mother told me her stories.

The non-finite verb "telling" has the explicit subject "mother".

When the subject is omitted, it must be taken from the matrix clause. In the following sentence, "I" is the subject of the verb listening, but "mother" is still the subject of "telling."

I have many fond memories of listening to my mother telling stories of her childhood.

Now let's look at your sentence. The main verb is "be." "be" is a linking verb and the preposition "of" is optional. However, if you remove it, it creates a possible confusion between the present continuous tense and the non-finite complement clause "sitting outside out hut."

No confusion: My earliest memory is (the memory) of sitting outside our hut.

Confusion

[My earliest memory is sitting] [outside our hut]. (The memory sits someplace?)
[My earliest memory is] [sitting outside our hut]. (The memory is something that I was doing)

Please explain the usage of "be of ~ing"

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