English prepositions of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ with reference to vietnamese equivalents

ABSTRACT This thesis is intended to investigate the syntactic and semantic features of English prepositions of place in, at, on with reference to Vietnamese equivalents.. The aim of this

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project

report entitled English prepositions of place “in”, “at”, “on” with

reference to Vietnamese equivalents” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis

Hanoi, 2016

Pham Thi Hang

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Assoc Prof Dr Phan Van Que

Date:………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not have been completed without the help and

support from a number of people

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Phan Van Que, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly

through my growth as an academic researcher

A special word of thanks goes to all of the lecturers of the Faculty of Postgraduate studies – Hanoi Open university, my classmates, my students

at Sao Do university,and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis

accomplished

Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my colleague for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work

ABSTRACT

This thesis is intended to investigate the syntactic and semantic features of English prepositions of place in, at, on with reference to Vietnamese equivalents After analysis on these features, their comparison between English and Vietnamese are discussed to find out the similarities and differences From the result of this study, the implication in teaching

and learning English is suggested

The descriptive and comparative method was chosen to carry out this study Many examples are used in the study to illustrate and analyze the syntactic and semantic feature of these preposition, then making a comparison between two languages to find out equivalents The data are collect from books, dictionaries, internet, stories and novels Moreover, the survey was also carried out to find out the mistakes as well as the difficulties when mastering these prepositions of Vietnamese learners

The results show that these prepositions in both languages have some similarities and differences in term syntactics and semantics However, the main difference is in term of semantics Many students have not distinguished the use of these prepositions yet They are not sure about the equivalents of these prepositions in Vietnamese Through the result of this study, the author hopes that it can help Vietnamese students learn English

easier

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Prep Preposition

EFL English as Foreign Language

ESL English as Second Language

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 2.1 Prepositions of place in English and Vietnamese 34

2.2.2.1.5 Semantic features of English prepositions 20

2.2.2.3.3 Contrast between English and Vietnamese prepositions of

4.1 Syntactic features of prepositions of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ 43 4.2 Semantic features of prepositions of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ 43

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE RESEARCH

In today’s global world, the importance of English can not be denied and ignored since English is the most common language spoken everywhere With the help of developing technology, English has been playing a major role in many sectors including medicine, engineering, especially education Particularly, as a developing country, Vietnams needs to make use of this world-wide spoken language to help country develop Awareness about those important roles of English, there are many policies to develop this language in Vietnam English has been the most update foreign language in comparison with other ones Everyone who wants to have a large stock of knowledge, gets opportunities with good jobs, has success in career needs to learn and master English Nowadays, English is one of the most three important subjects after mathematics and literature in most secondary schools in Vietnam Textbooks have been renovated; new methods have been applied in teaching English Since English is far different from Vietnamese, it is not easy for learners to master They sometimes find some difficulties in mastering all the aspects of English language because English grammar is different from Vietnamese structure There are many rules used

to correlate or to combine parts of speech for making good sentences or phrases such as article, determiners, pronouns, prepositions, subjunctive, etc

Prepositions are words used to connect nouns or noun structures to other structures in a sentence They have been called the biggest little word

in English They exist in both English and Vietnamese However,

prepositions have different characteristics and usage in each language It is difficult to learn to use prepositions correctly in foreign language There is a fact that English prepositions pose a big challenge for the acquisition of second language Most English prepositions have several different functions and these may correspond to several different prepositions in another language

Although prepositions have been taught in school, universities, or even English courses about how to use it, to know functions and kinds of prepositions but in reality, many students still make mistakes of the use of prepositions They still cannot differentiate which preposition is appropriate for each sentence form Prepositions are minor significance because they are limited in number and their meanings are not important to the meaning of the whole sentence However, preposition – a small part of speech- creates troubles for most Vietnamese learners of English, especially prepositions of

place in, at, on These three prepositions of place with complicated usage causes a lot of troubles for students It is said “I am at the hospital to visit a friend in the hospital”, “She lies in the bed but she sits on the bed”, “ I

watch the film at the cinema but on the television” So, the words in, at, on

are not easy for learners of English Even most learners make errors when using these prepositions In this thesis, the author wants to focus one aspect

of English grammar – prepositions in general, and prepositions of place in,

at, on in details in two languages Therefore, a study on English preposition

of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ with reference to Vietnamese equivalents is carried out with the hope that it will help Vietnamese learners of English have a deep understanding on these preposition and find it easier to learn them

1.2 Aims of the research

The aim of this research is investigating into English preposition of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ with reference to Vietnamese equivalents in term of syntactic and semantic features Therefore, this study focuses on finding out the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in the use

of these prepositions so that it can help Vietnamese learners raise awareness

of this type preposition phrases to use them exactly and fluently

1.3 Objectives of the research

As an study of English preposition of place “in”, “at”, “on” with

reference to Vietnamese equivalents, this research pursued the following objectives:

(i) Investigating the equivalents of English preposition of place “in”,

“at”, “on” in Vietnamese in term of syntactic

(ii) Investigating the equivalents of English preposition of place “in”,

“at”, “on” in Vietnamese in term of semantic

(iii) Proposing some implications for mastering preposition of place

“in”, “at”, “on” in an effective way

1.4 Scope of the research

It is due to the framework of a Master thesis, this study focuses on the semantic and syntactic features of three English preposition of place ‘in’,

‘at’, ‘on’ with reference to Vietnamese equivalents, the study will not survey all English prepositions of place The participants involving the survey are firs – year students from different high schools The survey questionnaire designed in this study focus mainly on the use of these prepositions in term of syntactic and semantics The implication for mastering these prepositions will also be taken into consideration with a

view to help students at Sao Do University to overcome their difficulties in acquiring English as a foreign language

1.5 Significance of the research

This study deals with the semantic and syntactic of English preposition of place “in”, “at”, “on” with reference to Vietnamese equivalents which will provide more information about the prepositions of place in, at, on to help non-native English speakers use these prepositions more fluently in two terms: theoretical and practical Theoretically, the study helps to find out the syntactic and semantic features of preposition in general and prepositions of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ in particular Practically, it provides useful ways in learning, teaching and translating between two languages In addition, this study is carried out with the hope to help students at Sao Do University to have deep understanding on these English prepositions to avoid making mistakes

1.6 Structural organization of the thesis

This study is designed with five chapters:

Chapter 1- Introduction gives an overview of the thesis including rationale,

aims, objectives, scope and significance as well as the organization of the research

Chapter 2- Literature Review presents an overview of some previous

studies on the same subject both in English and Vietnamese At the same time, the chapter gives a theoretical background to the study with theoretical preliminaries directly related to the investigation of syntactic and semantic features of English prepositions of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ with reference to Vietnamese equivalents

Chapter 3 – Methodology refers to the researching approach of the study

and the method to collect and analyze the collected data which help the author achieve the best result in the research

Chapter 4 - Findings and Discussion, in which the author will summarize the findings, discuss the similarities and differences of prepositions of place

‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ in two languages in two terms syntactic and semantic and give implication for mastering these prepositions

Chapter 5 – Conclusion provides the recapitulation, concluding remarks

and limitation of the study, and suggestion for further studies

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

For hundred years, prepositions have attached the attention of many language researchers They play important role in the sentences They cannot appear alone independently; therefore we treated them together with their complement, which form prepositional phrases This chapter provides

a review of previous works related to the study as well as theoretical background In addition, the chapter is to explain several related terms and definitions such as syntax, semantics, prepositions, and prepositions of place

in, at, on

2.1 Review of previous studies

2.1.1 Previous studies oversea

According to Otto Jesperseen , who is one of the prominent traditional linguists and grammarians, groups prepositions as a subclass of particles and defines them very briefly in “ Essentials of English Grammar”

as elements which signal different types of relationship in the sentence as

follows: in, at, through, for, etc As a traditional grammarian, Curme (1935)

pays special attention to preposition as an indeclinable word of relation, he also considers the item governed by the preposition, which must be a noun phrase

Lawal (2004) shows that prepositions indicate various relationships between words or phrases in sentence The relationship includes those of time, points, position, direction and various degrees of mental or emotional attitude

Quirk and Greenbaum (1973) concern about the relational meanings that the prepositions establish among the constituents of the sentence and prepositions meanings are difficult to describe systematically in “Concise grammar of English”

Charles Fillmore has different view of prepositions He attributes a very distinctive role to English prepositions in “ Toward a Modern Theory

of Case” He regards them as elements which specify the different cases of the noun phrase

In his grammar textbook “Mastering American English”, Hayden, et.al focus on the usage of prepositions He mentions that “a preposition shown relationship between its object and other words in a sentence…Some

of the relationships that prepositions express is place or position, direction, time, manner and agent.”

Concerning about the implications for teaching prepositions, Celce – Murcia and Larsen – Freeman show the nine most frequent prepositions (at,

by, from, in, for, of, on, to, with) in “ An English Grammar for Teachers of English as a Second Language” (1978) He recommend that beginning students should master at an early stage the primary meanings of the nine prepositions in his book

2.1.2 Previous studies in Vietnam

Prepositions and prepositional phrases have been also studied deeply

by many Vietnamese linguists such as Dinh Van Duc, Diep Quang Ban, Bui Duc Tinh

In Vietnam, The oldest material which mentioned preposition may be

“ Báo cáo vắn tắt về tiếng An Nam hay Đông Kinh” in a dictionary that was

called “Việt – Bồ - La” of Alexandre de Rhôdes (1651) In the part III of this article, the author stated Vietnamese prepositions as one of four non inflected part of speech (adverb, interjection, conjunction and preposition)

According to Bui Duc Tinh (1952), preposition and preposition phrase are words used to show the meaning correlativeness of two words or two phrases

Dinh Van Duc (2001) states that preposition like conjunction is used

to express the relationship among words of open word class The function

of conjunction is not to express the grammatical meaning

Nguyen Kim Than in “Nghiên cứu về ngữ pháp tiếng Việt” separated preposition as one types of part of speech and definite that prepositions is a kind of empty words that are used to connect to link the sub – word with the main word to show the relationship between the two words

From the basis of the previous studies, it can be seen that the investigation of prepositions of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ and their Vietnamese equivalents have not discussed so far in both languages, English and Vietnamese A research relating English prepositions of place ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’ with reference to Vietnamese equivalents has been chosen for my thesis

2.2 Review of theoretical background

other words, it is set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentence in a given language, specifically word order More simply, syntax can be defined as the arrangement of words in a sentence The term syntax is also is used to mean the study of the syntactic properties

of a language It dictates words from different parts of speech are put together in order to convey a complete thought Perhaps the most important aspect of syntax is how the various parts of speech connect together Every language has rules that dictate types of words can be used in a sentence, and how to interpret the resulting sentence For this reason, discovering the syntactic rules common to all languages is the goal of many syntacticians

Syntax is one of the major components of grammar Traditionally linguists have recognized a basic distinction between syntax and morphology which is primary concerned with the internal structures of words However, this distinction has been somewhat disrupted by recent research in lexicogrammar

Syntax allows speakers to communicate complicated thoughts by arranging small, simple units in meaningful ways For example, in English,

a sentence can be simple as a one – word interjection, or it can be a lengthy composition with multiple clauses strung together

According to R.M.W Dixon ( 1991), syntactic clues have to be treated with care, and the relevant syntactic categories must be established empirically, not determined a priori

Syntax plays important roles in language, it makes human language unlimited Humans can create new sentences or phrases to express different meanings with the rules of syntax

2.2.1.2 Semantics

The word semantics was first used by a French philologist, Michel Breal In international scientific vocabulary semantics is also called semasiology The simple definition of semantics is the study of the meaning

of linguistic expressions The formal study of semantics intersects with many other fields of inquiry including lexicology, syntax, pragmatics, etymology and others It contrasts with syntax, the study of the combination

of units of a language without reference to their meaning, and pragmatics – the study of the relationships between the symbols of a language, their meaning, and the users of the language

In linguistics, semantics the subfield that devoted to the study of meaning, as inherent at the levels of words, phrases, sentences, and larger units of discourse It is also closely linked to the subjects of representation, reference and denotation In traditionally, semantics has included the study

of sense and denotative reference, truth conditions, argument structure, thematic roles, discourse analysis, and the linkage of all these to syntax

According to Hurford and Heasley (1983) semantics is the study of meaning in language Language is a mean of communication, and people use language to communicate with other by making conversations, giving information, and other things to make social relationship

Morries as quoted by Lyons (1977) at first defines semantics as the study of the relations of signs to the objects to which the signs are applicable And then he revised his definition, saying that, semantics is that portion of semiotic which deals with the signification of sign in all modes of signifying

The concepts as well as the studies of syntax and semantics are basis study to investigate syntax and semantic features of prepositions of place

“in”, “at”, “on” in English

2.2.2 Theoretical background

Prepositions are words used to combine nouns or noun structures to other structures in a sentence However, they have different characteristics and usage in each language English prepositional usage may be treated in different ways depending on the starting points chosen and the aspects that are being emphasized

2.2.2.1 English prepositions

The important feature of preposition is that they cannot stand alone, regardless of how many words they combine with As prepositions are not independent element, they always combine with other elements such as nouns, pronouns, verbs Thus, the study of preposition should focus on finding characteristics of prepositional phrase than separating them from other elements

2.2.2.1.1 Definition

Preposition is a word that comes from Latin, a language in which such a word is usually placed before its complement It is often used in English, both in spoken and written language In the most general term, a preposition is the first word of a phrase that contains a noun or a pronoun Preposition is defined “A preposition may be defined as connecting word showing the relation of a noun or a noun substitute to some other word in sentence” (“Preposition: definition and usage”)

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary a preposition “

is a word or group of words used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or method” Agoi (2003) described preposition as a word or group of words used with a noun or noun equivalents to show the link between that noun which it governs and another word According to Richard Nordquist, he defines preposition as “a word that show relationship between

a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence” Ehrlich and Murphy (1990) state that preposition is a word conveys the meaning of position, direction, time or other abstraction Prepositions according to Lawal (2004) indicate various relationships between words or phrases in sentence The relationship includes those of times, points, position, direction, and various degrees of mental or emotional attitude Wishon and Burks (1980) state

“Prepositions are always followed by nouns or pronouns They are connective words that show the relationship between the nouns following them and one of the basis sentences elements: subject, verb, object, or complement.”

Another definition of preposition within traditional grammar is presented by Curme (1935) “A preposition is a word that indicates a relation between the noun or pronoun it governs and another words, which may be a verb, an adjective, or another noun or pronoun” This definition emphasizes the function of expression relation It offers an extremely comprehensive definition of a preposition

Prepositions in English consist of one word (in, at, on, to) or two words (ahead of) or three words (in front of) They are used with a lot of functions including time, location, manner, means, quantity, purpose and state or condition In other words, prepositions have different functions and meaning in English sentences

The important feature of preposition is that they can not stand alone, regardless of how many words they are combined with (Downing and Locke, 1992) As prepositions are not independent element, they are always combined with other elements, such as nouns (at night), verbs (to give), and adverbs (for ever)

The part following a preposition is called its object The object of a preposition can be a noun, pronoun, a gerund or a noun clause For example:

a noun: We gave a present to our secretaries

a pronoun: We gave a present to them

a gerund: We thought about giving a present to them

a noun clause: We thought about giving a present to whoever worked

A simple preposition is made up of only one word They are words

like ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’, ‘to’, ‘off’, ‘about’, ‘for’, ‘by’, ‘along’, ‘following’,

‘until’, ‘with’,’ through, etc Here are some examples of the uses of the simple prepositions

My cottage is on that road

There are only two beds in the cottage

My car is at the cottage

They were driving to Edinburgh

He was standing by the door

The book is off the shelf

The house stands between two farms

We didn’t sleep until midnight

He jumped into the lake

Ann climbed onto the roof [22]

You can’t leave the country without a passport [16: 35] You must get the job done within the week

She spoke during the meeting [22: 689]

As regards stress, simple prepositions can be divided into two groups:

- Prepositions which have no reduced form in their pronunciation such as like, round, since, through

- Prepositions which have reduced forms such as from /frɔm, frəm, frm/ and where the choice of phonetic form varies according to function

(Quirk et al, 1985) Complex preposition is made of more than one word According to Quirk et al (1979), most complex prepositions can be assigned to one of three categories: adverb + preposition, verb/ adjective/ conjunction + preposition, preposition + noun + preposition

In two- word sequences, the first word is an adverb, verb, adjective conjunction, and the second word is a simple prepositions These simple

prepositions are often for, from, of, to or with Some of two –word sequences: ‘away from’, ‘close to’, ‘instead of’, ‘up to’, ‘except for’,

‘because of’, ‘next to’, ‘due to’, ‘back of’, ‘according to’, etc Here are some

examples:

We had to leave early because of the bad weather

I sat next to an old lady on the train

Except for Margaret, everybody was in favour of the idea [22: 669]

She was sitting close to me [22: 680]

At last we are out of the forest [22: 684]

She is up to the top ten students in her class [15:35]

According to me, she is a very good student [17:34]

I lived away from home when I was a student [17:33]

The type consisting of three words is the most numerous category of

complex prepositions, as in : Prep1 + N + Prep2 : ‘in line with’, ‘in

connection with’, ‘in term of’, ‘in favour of’, ‘on account of’, ‘in front of’,

‘on top of’, ‘ in spite of’, ‘ at the back of’, ‘ in place of’, ‘in search if’, ‘ in

comparison with’, ‘in view of’, ‘in addition to’ etc Examples:

In term of money, her loss was small

How many delegates are in favour of this motion

In line with latest trends in fashion, many dress designers have been

sacrificing elegance to audacity [22: 670]

His name is at the back of the cover’s story [16: 34]

In spite of being a good student, she failed the exams [16: 56]

On account of raining I stay at home today [16: 67]

Besides, complex prepositions may be subdivided according to

which prepositions function as Prep1 and Prep2 such as:

in + noun + of: in view of, in search of, in place of, etc…

in + noun + with : in line with, in comparison with, etc…

by + noun + of: by virtue of, by dint of, etc…

on + noun + of : on pain of, on the strength of, etc…

However, the boundary between simple and complex prepositions is

not clear – cut Many simple prepositions are derived from complex

In term of meanings, prepositions are divided into five groups:

prepositions of place, prepositions of time, prepositions of reason, prepositions of manner and concession Prepositions can be used to show several types of relations depending on the context because prepositions usually have more than one meaning

Preposition of place: in, at, on, behind, under, in front of, over, above, between, next to, etc…Examples:

A large flock of pigeons is perched on the tree [25:309]

He works in London, but he lives in the country

She’s a student at Oxford University [22: 676]

The car is behind the bus [22: 678]

He lives under the bridge

The flag is in front of us [25: 316]

Prepositions of time: in, at, on, for, since, during, by, before, after, till, until, etc…

We stayed up during the night [22: 688]

I wrote my paper on Friday

I have to submit the paper by Monday

Victoria arrived at Waterloo Station at 7pm [25: 320]

We took a swim before breakfast [25: 323]

We camped there until September [22: 690]

Prepositions of reasons: because of, due to, out of, for, on account

She has been promoted due to her work hard [17: 46]

Because of bed weather, I have to delay the departure time

[17: 45]

The motor is run out of petrol [17:56]

He was fined for drunken driving

On account of his wide experience, he was made chairman

The survivors were weak from exposure and lack of food

[22: 696]

Prepositions of manner: like, as, with: Examples:

Life is like a dream

I respect him as writer and as a man [31: 475]

We were received with the utmost courtesy [22: 698]

Preposition of concession: in spite of, despite, in defiance of…

They had a wonderful holiday, despite the

bad weather [31: 475]

They went out in spite of the rain [36: 1817]

I painted with a pencil

2.2.2.1.3 Position of English preposition in sentence

Prepositions are relationship words that explain the time, space, or logical relationship between the other parts of the sentence In other words,

it links all the other words together So, it plays an important factor in a sentence They may appear in one of the position in the sentence:

In front of a noun, a pronoun, or a noun phrase Examples:

She walked across the street

Tara is looking for you

He was surprised at her

I received letters from my grandmother yesterday

At the last position in wh-questions

When the question word is the object of a preposition, the preposition often comes at the end of the clause, especially in formal usage Examples:

Where do you come from?

What do you look for?

Relative clauses

When relative pronoun is the object of a preposition, preposition often

goes at the end of the clause They can appear either before or after the relative pronouns Examples:

This is the book that I came for [15: 154] The engineer about whom you are speaking is a good

specialist [15: 113]

In passives sentences

In passive structures, prepositions go with their verbs

Everything he said was laughed at [15: 21]

He is a man whose word can be relied on [15: 34]

2.2.2.1.4 Syntactic features of English preposition

English prepositions have some syntactic features as follow:

The first feature is as a post modifier in a noun phrase Example:

The people on the bus were singing [22: 657] The second feature is as verb phrase complement A verb phrase complement is a word, phrase or clause that completes meaning of a verb

phrase For example, the following italicized preposition phrases function as verb phrase complement

We were looking at his awful painting [22: 657]

The book fell off the shelf [22: 678]

The third one is as adjective phrase complement as follow example:

He’s bad at games [22: 711]

I’m sorry for his parent [22: 657]

The fourth function is as adjunct adverbial An adjunct adverbial modifies an entire clause by providing additional information about time, place, manner, condition, purpose, reason, result, and concession For examples:

The people were singing on the bus

In the afternoon , we went to Boston [22: 657]

The next one function is as subjunct adverbial Example:

From a personal point of view , I find this is a good solution to the problem

The sixth function is as disjunct adverbial A disjunct adverbial provides additional information to frame an entire clause

In all fairness , she did try to phone the police [22: 657]

The last function is as conjunct adverbial

On the other hand , he made no attempt to help her [22: 657]

2.2.2.1.5 Semantic features of English prepositions

As said above, a preposition expresses a relation between two entities, one being that represented by the preposition complement In the

various types of relational meaning, those of time and space are popular and easiest to describe systematically, other relationships are difficult to describe systematically Following are some semantics features of English prepositions

Prepositions denoting spatial relation

Prepositions express spatial relations are of two kinds: prepositions of location and prepositions of direction Both kinds are positive and negative Prepositions of location appear with verbs describing states or conditions,

especially be Prepositions of direction appear with verbs of motion

Prepositions of location

- Positive position and destination: at, to, on, onto, in Examples:

The city is situated on the coast [22: 675] Don’t run onto the school [22: 676] The Smiths drove to Edinburgh [22: 677]

- Source or negative position: away from, off, out of Examples:

Anna is away from home

The book is off the shelf

Tom is out of the water [22: 678]

- Relative position: over, under, above, on top of, underneath, beneath, before, behind, after Examples:

The picture is above the mantelpiece

The castle stands on a hill above the [22: 678]

We place on the top of the car [22: 679]

- Space: by, beside, near, with, close to, between, among, around, round, etc

Beside Mary there stood a young man

The house stands among the farms [22: 680]

The guests were standing around the room [22: 681]

Prepositions of direction

- Passage: with verbs of motion, prepositions may express the idea of

passage with prepositions such as over, under, behind, across, through, past.etc Examples:

He jumped over a ditch

The ball rolled underneath the table [22: 681]

Movement with reference to a directional path: up, down, along, across Examples:

The ball rolled across the lawn

We walked up the hill and down the other side [22: 682]

Prepositions denoting time

A prepositional phrase of time usually occurs as adjunct, postmodifier

or predication Following are details about the meanings of these prepositions

Time position: in, at, on, by

- “in”, “at”, “on” as prepositions of ‘time position’ are to some extent parallel to the same items as positive preposition of

position At is used for points of time (at 7.a.m, at noon, at five

o’clock…), holiday periods (at Christmas, at East, at the weekend…), or for periods when conceived of as points of time (at that time, at lunch time, at night…) On is used for referring to days as periods of time (on Sunday, on New Year’s Day on the

following day, on March second…) In is used for periods that are

longer or shorter than a day (in the morning, in 2000, in summer,

in May, in the 18 th Century…)

- By occurs in the idiom by day, by night that replace during the

day, during the night with some activities such as travelling

Example

We preferred travelling by night [22: 688]

Measurement into the future: in To denote measurement from the present time, in is used for a span ahead into the future Examples:

We will meet in three months’ time [22: 688]

- Duration: for, during, over, through, throughout, from…to, until, up

to, etc Examples:

We camped there for the summer

During our stay in Japan we met several old friends

We camped there through the summer [22: 689]

Preposition denoting the cause

At one end of the cause, we have prepositions expressing either material cause or the psychological cause for a happening Phrases of cause, reason, and motive answer the question Why…? They include prepositions

such as because of, on account of, for, form, etc Examples:

We had to drive slowly because of the heavy rain

On account of his wide experience, he was made chairman

[22: 695]

Preposition denoting purpose: for

For is used to express purpose For examples

He’ll do anything for money

Everyone ran for shelter

[22: 696]

Please click here for more information [25: 331] Prepositions denoting recipient, goal, target: for, to, at

When preposition for is followed by noun phrases denoting persons

or animals, the meaning is intended recipient Example:

She made a beautiful doll for her daughter [22:697] The preposition to expresses actual recipient Example:

She gave a beautiful doll to her daughter [22:697]

In combinations such as aim at, at expresses intended goal or target

Example:

A vicious dog was snapping at her ankles

After aiming carefully at the bird, he missed it completely

[22:697]

Prepositions denoting manner: in…manner, like, with

The job was done in a workmanlike manner

We were received with the utmost courtesy

Life is like dream [22: 698]

Preposition denoting means and instrument: by, with, without

By expresses the meaning “by mean of” Examples:

I usually go to work by bus

The thief must have entered and left the house by the back door

[22: 699]

On other hand, with expresses instrumental meaning

Someone had broken the window with a stone

He caught the ball with his left hand [22: 699]

Without expresses the equivalent negative meaning of with

I drew it without (using) a ruler [22: 699] Prepositions denoting support and opposition: for, with, against

for expresses the idea of support and with that of solidarity or movement in sympathy Examples:

Are you for or against the plan?

Remember that every one of us is with you?

[22: 702]

Against conveys the idea of opposition

Prepositions denoting the concession: in spite of, despite, for all,

with all, etc Examples:

Despite strong pressure from the government, the union has

refused to order a return to work

With all his boasting and ostentatious training, he was knocked out in the first round [22: 706]

Prepositions denoting the respect: with reference to, with

regard to, as for, etc

Some of prepositions that express the respect are used in rather formal contexts, typically business letter

Prepositions denoting the exception and addition

Some most prepositions denoting exception and addition include:

except for, with the exception of, apart from, aside from, except, excepting, excluding, but Examples:

We had a pleasant time, except for the weather

The worst period of my life, apart from the war, was when I was

out of work [22: 207]

2.2.2.2 Vietnamese prepositions

Like English prepositions, although Vietnamese preposition is only small unit in language, it is very important because its structure is used in everyday conversations They link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence The words or phrases that preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition

2.2.2.2.1 Definition

Like English, Vietnamese also has a category of word which is similar to preposition It is considered as an empty word called “hư từ” We may called this category Vietnamese equivalent of English preposition Although some linguists have claimed that prepositions do not exist in Vietnamese, according to Tuc (2003) “although the distinction between prepositions and serial verbs in Vietnamese is not always clear-cut, Vietnamese prepositions do exist” In his book, he also gave many examples

to prove his opinion Moreover, nowadays, in many books of teaching Vietnamese for foreigners, the name preposition is often used Therefore, to

be convenient, the name Vietnamese preposition is used for equivalent of English preposition in Vietnamese in this thesis Nguyen Kim Than in “Viet Nam văn phạm”, defines prepositions as a category of word and that

“prepositions, a kind of empty words, are used to connect to link the sub – word with the main word to show the relationship between the two words There is a small amount of prepositions in Vietnamese, but they are used frequently everyday and play an important role in organizing sentences

Cô ấy ngồi giữa Peter và tôi

(She sits between Peter and me)

Theo lời khuyên của anh ấy tôi sửa lại bài làm của tôi

(According to his advice, I correct my assignment)

Đơn này phải điền bằng bút mực

(This application must be filled out in ink)

Cái áo này may bằng lụa

(This dress is made of silk) [32: 288]

Tôi đi làm bằng xe buýt

(I go to work by bus)

Trong nhà thì nóng nhưng bên trong thì lạnh

(It’s hot inside the house, but it’s cold outside)

[32: 298] The second group is compound prepositions which are comprised of a preposition and an adverb The most commonly used compound

prepositions are: ‘kể cả’ (including), ‘khác hẳn’ (different from), ‘mãi đến khi’ (not until), ‘ngoài ra’ (beside), ‘đến tận’ (till), ‘chính giữa’ (middle),

‘cho đến (even), ‘không kể’ (excluding), ‘trái với’ (against), ‘trong số’ (among), etc

Here are some examples with this type of preposition

Hồ Hoàn Kiếm nằm ở giữa thủ đô Hà Nôi

(Hoan Kiem lake is in the middle of Ha Noi capital)

Bên trên của sổ là một bức tranh

(Above the window is a picture)

Bên ngoài trời đang mưa lất phất

(Outside it is prinking gently)

[32: 294]

Anh ấy khác xa với bố của anh ấy

(He is different from his father very much) [32: 293]

Đến ngã tư quẹo phải, tiệm ấy bên tay phải luôn

(Turn right at the next intersection, the store is on the right)

[32: 295]

Ý kiến của anh ấy luôn đi lại với ý kiến của tập thể

(His ideas are always against the ideas of all class)

[32:292]

In term of meaning, according to Tran (2007) there are two main types of preposition in Vietnamese: prepositions of location and prepositions of time In addition, there are some other prepositions called

miscellaneous ones Prepositions of location like trong (in, inside), chung quanh (around), bên phải (on the right), bên trái (on the left), trên (on, above, over), cạnh (next to), etc Prepositions of times: cho tới khi (until), sau (after), trước (before), kể từ khi (since), vào (in, at, on), trong suốt (during) Miscellaneous prepositions conclude cho (for), bởi (by), nhờ (thank to), về (about), ‘bên phải’ (on the right), ‘bên trái’ (on the left), bên

trên (above,on), etc

The usage of these prepositions in sentences is similar to in English Here are some examples:

Prepositions of time:

Trong bữa tiệc cô ấy không nói gì cả

(She said nothing during the party)

Tôi thường dậy vào sáu giờ sáng

(I usually get up at six am)

Prepositions of location:

Bạn tôi sống ở Sài Gòn

(my friend lives in Sai Gon)

Viện bảo tàng nằm ở bên phải tiệm sách cũ

(The museum is locate on the right of the used bookstore)

Miscellaneous prepositions:

Nhớ mua hoa cho tôi nhé

(Remember to buy flowers for me, OK?)

Lại đây ngồi với tôi!

(Come and sit with me!)

Đối với tôi, chuyện đó không quan trọng

(That issue doesn’t matter to me)

2.2.2.2.3 Position of Vietnamese preposition in sentence

In Vietnamese, prepositions have some positions in sentence as follow:

- In front of noun and pronoun Examples:

Tôi ăn không cần dao

( I eat without a knife)

Bạn có thể cùng đến với tôi không?

(Can you come with me?)

Bà ta đến cùng với con chó nhỏ của mình

(She came with her small dog)

- They appear after verb

Chúng tôi sống gần công viên

(We live near the park.)

- After an adjective

Mẹ tôi cao hơn bố tôi

(My mother is taller than my father.)

2.2.2.3 English and Vietnamese prepositions of place

Prepositions of place are prepositions which are used to show the position or location of one thing or person with another It answers question

“where”

2.2.2.3.1 English preposition of place

In English, there are many prepositions of place Each preposition can have some different meaning Below the author presents some of the most

common prepositions of place in English: