Linguistic features of preposition ‘BY’ in english and their vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A. THESIS

LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF PREPOSITON
'BY' IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE
EQUIVALENTS
(ĐẶC ĐIỂM NGÔN NGỮ CỦA GIỚI TỪ 'BY' TRONG TIẾNG
ANH VÀ NHỮNG TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

PHAM THI THUY

Field: English Language

Hanoi, 2017

1


2


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A. THESIS

LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF PREPOSITON

'BY' IN ENGLISH AND THEIR VIETNAMESE
EQUIVALENTS
(ĐẶC ĐIỂM NGÔN NGỮ CỦA GIỚI TỪ 'BY' TRONG TIẾNG
ANH VÀ NHỮNG TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

PHAM THI THUY

Field: English Language
Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Ph.D

Hanoi, 2017

3


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project entitled.
LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF PREPOSITON 'BY' IN ENGLISH AND
THEIR VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
(Đặc điểm ngôn ngữ của giới từ ‘by’ trong Tiếng Anh và những tương đương
trong Tiếng việt)
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, 2017

Pham Thi Thuy

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Ph.D.
(Signature and full name)

Date: ……………………….

i
4


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Nguyen Thi
Thu Huong, Ph.D. who gave me valuable suggestions, useful comments,
experience and support during the time of completing the graduation thesis.
I also would like to pay my homage to all my lecturers at the Faculty of
Graduate Studies at Hanoi Open University (HOU) for their useful lectures,
supports, encouragement and for inspiring me in teaching English as a Foreign
Language teaching and doing scientific research.
I highly appreciate the helpful advice, assistance and participation from my
colleagues and friends at HOU.
I express my affectionate and thank the teachers and students at Thai Nguyen
Medical College, who supplied me with a great deal of practical figures.
Finally, I’m grateful to my family and friends who encourage and help me
with valuable materials, gave me energy and advice during the time I implemented
this study.
Hanoi, 2017

Pham Thi Thuy

ii
5


ABSTRACT
This study looks at preposition ‘by’ in English and their equivalents in
Vietnamese. The study concentrates on the analysis of the common errors made by
Vietnamese learners and actual errors made by Thai Nguyen Medical College
students in particular. The aim of doing this is to find out the ways to help the
teachers and students to use English prepositions effectively in teaching and
learning. The writer of the study figures out the features of English preposition in
terms of linguistic. After data are collected from chosen materials, the writer uses
descriptive method to describe and analyze the data before classifying them into
groups of features. The writer also conducts qualitative and quantitative research
as a description of the data from source. The data are collected by generalizing,
analyzing and classifying. Linguistic features are presented through ways of
creating terms and types of English preposition terms. The study will be conducted
through three steps: first, data are collected from two main chosen materials and
the other references; then, the data are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to
figure out the linguistic features of English preposition. Finally, the results are
classified and presented in forms of tables.
The results of the study help to contribute suggestions to approaching the
teaching and learning English preposition terms based on linguistic and features.
Probable errors were pointed out, with a view to helping the teachers and students
to avoid them. Basing on research findings and the researcher’s teaching
experience, suggestions and exercises are given with the hope that the study may
possibly to some extent improve current situation in teaching and learning English
prepositions at TNMC.

iii
6


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Adv.
E.g.

Adverb
For example

N
No.
Prep.

Noun
Number
Preposition

Prep. P
HOU
TNMC
*

Preposition Phrases
Hanoi Open University
Thai Nguyen Medical College
An asterisk signifies that what follows it is incorrect

[ ]
[: ]

Reference Number
Reference Number and page are separated by ‘:’
For example: [8:32] the reference number is 8 and the page in

(:)

^

the reference is 32
Illustration examples reference resources (reference number :
page number)
An omission signifies that where are needed in the sentence

iv
7


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 4.1: Information of the research participants ....................................... 47
Table 4.2: Error’s made by students at TNMC when using English
prepositions .................................................................................................. 50
Table 4.3: Common errors made by students when translating from
Vietnamese into English. .............................................................................. 52
Figures 1: Total errors in each sentence ....................................................... 50

v

8


TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY..............................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................... v
CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study ..................................................................................... 1
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study .................................................................... 2
1.2.1. Aim of the study .......................................................................................... 2
1.2.2. Objectives of the study................................................................................. 2
1.3. Research questions ......................................................................................... 2
1.4. Methods of the study ...................................................................................... 2
1.5. Scope of the study........................................................................................... 3
1.6 Significance of the study.................................................................................. 3
1.7. Design of the study ......................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Previous studies .............................................................................................. 5
2.2. Overview of syntax and semantics ................................................................. 6
2.2.1. Syntax.......................................................................................................... 7
2.2.2. Semantics .................................................................................................... 7
2.3. An overview of the prepositions ..................................................................... 8
2.3.1. English prepositions ..................................................................................... 8
2.3.2. Vietnamese prepositions ............................................................................ 16

2.4. Errors analysis .............................................................................................. 21
2.4.1. Errors analysis beginning from linguistic difficulties in teaching and
learning English of Vietnamese learners. ............................................................. 21
2.4.2. Factors affecting learners’ acquisition of a foreign language ..................... 24

9


2.4.3. Predictions of errors made by Vietnamese learners using English preposition
‘by’...................................................................................................................... 28
2.5. Summary ...................................................................................................... 29
CHAPTER 3
FEATURES OF PREPOSITION ‘BY’ IN ENGLISH AND THEIR
VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENTS
3.1. Syntactic features of ‘by’ preposition............................................................ 31
3.2. Semantics features of ‘by’ preposition ......................................................... 33
3.2.1. Preposition ‘by’ denoting time ................................................................... 33
3.2.2. Preposition ‘by’ denoting place or direction ............................................... 33
3.2.3. Preposition ‘by’ denoting means or agents ................................................. 33
3.2.4. Preposition ‘by’ denoting manner .............................................................. 34
3.2.5. Preposition ‘by’ denoting motion ............................................................... 34
3.2.6. Preposition ‘by’ denoting stiffness or without help .................................... 34
3.2.7. Preposition ‘by’ denoting means of transport ............................................. 35
3.2.8. Preposition ‘by’ denoting method .............................................................. 35
3.3. Preposition ‘by’ in English and their Vietnamese equivalents ....................... 36
3.3.1. 'By' in English corresponds to 'gần, bên cạnh, kề bên, dọc theo' in
Vietnamese .......................................................................................................... 36
3.3.2. ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘bằng’ in Vietnamese ................................ 37
3.3.3. ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘do, vì, bởi’ (theo sau ‘by’ không có mạo từ
‘the’) in Vietnamese ............................................................................................ 38

3.3.4. ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘qua’ in Vietnamese .................................. 39
3.3.5. ‘By’ in English corresponds to 'càng …càng, dần…dần, từng …một' in
Vietnamese .......................................................................................................... 39
3.3.6. ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘đối với, theo’ in Vietnamese..................... 40
3.3.7. ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘được, do, bởi’ in Vietnamese .................. 40
3.3.8. ‘By’ in English corresponds to 'chỉ bộ phận nào đó trên thân thể hay quần
áo' in Vietnamese ................................................................................................ 41
3.3.9. ‘By’ in English corresponds to ‘vào lúc, vào khoảng, vào quãng (chỉ thời
gian)’ in Vietnamese............................................................................................ 41
3.4. Similarities and differences between ‘by’ preposition in English and the
Vietnamese equivalents ....................................................................................... 42

10


3.4.1. Similarities ................................................................................................ 42
3.4.2. Differences ................................................................................................ 43
3.5. Summary ...................................................................................................... 43
CHAPTER 4
COMMON ERRORS MADE BY STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN
MEDICAL COLLEGE WHEN TRANSLATING ‘BY’ PREPOSITION
IN ENGLISH
4.1. The setting .................................................................................................... 44
4.2. The subjects .................................................................................................. 46
4.3. The survey questionnaire .............................................................................. 47
4.4. Research procedure....................................................................................... 48
4.5. Data analysis ................................................................................................ 49
4.5.1. Common errors made by students at TNMC when translating preposition
‘by’ in English ..................................................................................................... 53
4.5.2. Reasons for committing errors made by Vietnamese learners when learning

English preposition ‘by’ ...................................................................................... 56
4.6. Suggestions for overcoming errors made by students ................................... 58
4.6.1. Some suggestions for teaching English preposition ‘by’ ............................ 58
4.6.2. Some suggestions for learning English preposition ‘by’ ............................. 61
4.7. Summary ...................................................................................................... 62
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
5.1. Concluding remarks ...................................................................................... 63
5.2. Limitations of the study ................................................................................ 64
5.3. Suggestions for further study ........................................................................ 64
REFERENCES
APPENDICES

11


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale of the study
There is a well-established fact that English prepositions pose a big challenge
for the acquisition of second language. Learners of English as a foreign language
often face with huge difficulties in actively mastering the language. Generally,
they seemingly hold the view that English notional categories, namely nouns,
verbs, adjectives and adverbs are crucial, hence striving to learn as many of them
as possible and functional categories as prepositions are of minor significance
because they are limited in number and their meanings are not important to the
meaning of the whole sentence.
In terms of syntactic function, prepositions and prepositional phrases are
words used to connect nouns or noun phrases to other phrases in a sentence. They

exist in both English and Vietnamese language systems, in which their
characteristics and usages, however, are quite different. Mastering prepositions
and prepositional phrases cause a great deal of troubles for Vietnamese nativespeaker learners when learning English.
In the process of teaching English, great attention has been paid while
dealing with ‘by’ preposition. It is due to their syntactic and semantic
features, as well as stylistic peculiarities. Therefore, an effective way of
mastering preposition ‘by’ should be found to help learners overcome their
difficulties in acquiring English.
The study of general English in general as well as the improvement of the
quality of study in English for special purposes is of special importance to TNMC
students while accessing medical equipment, medicines as well as preparing
students to meet the demand for nursing staff increasingly needs of many
developed countries with old aged populations such as in Japan, Korea, Taiwan ...
For all mentioned above reasons, the topic linguistic features of preposition
‘by’ in English and their Vietnamese equivalents has been chosen for my
graduation thesis.

1


1.2. Aims and objectives of the study
1.2.1. Aim of the study
This study is conducted to find out the typical semantic and syntactic
features of prepositions, especially investigating ‘by’ preposition in English and
the Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic and semantic features, thus
helping Vietnamese learners of English to have better understanding prepositions
in general and ‘by’ preposition in particular, and be able to use them correctly in
daily communication.
1.2.2. Objectives of the study
The three main objectives of this study are:

(1) Identifying the linguistic features of ‘by’ preposition in English.
(2) Find out the similarities and differences between ‘by’ preposition in
English and Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic and semantic features.
(3) Proposing some implications for teaching and learning ‘by’ preposition in
English at TNMC in an effective way.

1.3. Research questions
The study is carried out to find out the answers to the following questions:
(1) What are the syntactic and semantic features of ‘by’ preposition in
English?
(2) What are the similarities and differences between ‘by’ preposition in
English and Vietnamese equivalents in terms of syntactic and semantic features.
(3) What are common mistakes made by students at TNMC when translating
‘by’ preposition in English? What are suggestions made by the author for learners?
1.4. Methods of the study
In order to deal with the research subject effectively, a flexible combination
of methods is employed. This thesis is basically carried out with the descriptive
and comparative analysis methods.

2


First, the descriptive method is utilized to give a deep and detailed
description of the preposition ‘by’ and their Vietnamese equivalents. Then
examples for illustrating the description will be taken from the grammar and
reference books written by contemporary influential linguists in English as well as
from translated publications available in Vietnam, which comprises various genres
such as short stories.
Second, the comparative analysis method is used to analyze the preposition
‘by’ and their Vietnamese equivalents, hence suggesting some implications for

mastering these particular phrases. Last but not least, other supporting method
such as statistic technique is also used for the data collection and analysis process.

1.5. Scope of the study
This study focuses mainly on analyzing the syntactic and semantic features
of preposition ‘by’ and investigating the equivalents of ‘by’ when translated into
Vietnamese. Its linguistic features are studied carefully in the famous story ‘The
Call of the Wild’ by Jack London and its translation ‘Tiếng gọi nơi hoang dã’ by
Nguyễn Công Ái and Vũ Tuấn Phương. The implications of the study are to help
Vietnamese learners of English in general and the students at TNMC in particular
master preposition ‘by’ effectively.

1.6 Significance of the study
The research is conducted to contribute to theoretical founding of
preposition, in preposition of systemizing general theories as well as theory of
linguistic features of preposition ‘by’ in English and their Vietnamese equivalents.
In practice, the finding can be used as a referential material in teaching and
learning English prepositions at Thai Nguyen Medical College. Compilers also
find this paper useful when they design material related to English prepositions.
In broad terms, the research topic contributes to:
(1) Enriching Vietnamese - a beautiful language in the contemporary
linguistic world with nearly 100 million Vietnamese people in use;

3


(2) Contributing to the implementation of the National Plan for the
Promotion of English as a Second Language; The National Foreign Language
Project 2020 aims to connect professionals, teachers and teachers in the field of
language teaching. Here is at all levels, from elementary school to university in

Vietnam and internationally, with the following specific objectives:
(3) Strengthening English language research and teaching capacity in
Vietnam; experts, lecturers, teachers of English teaching exchange of professional
experience and development of ideas on teaching methodology innovation
English.

1.7. Design of the study
The thesis starts out with Introduction chapter where rationale, aims and
objectives, research questions, methods, scope, significance, and design of the
study are presented. The literature review chapter is the place to summarize the
results of the researchers who worked on the problem, and give an overview on
preposition ‘by’. The Finding and Discussions chapter is the part analyzing data
and interpreting the results, as well as stating some pedagogical implications of the
findings. The Application of the research findings chapter is the part common
errors by learners of English when using preposition ‘by’ and solutions. The last
chapter is Conclusion which summarizes the issue and results of the study, as well
as offers some recommendations for the further study.
The table of main contents of the thesis are as follows:
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Literature review
Chapter 3. Features of preposition ‘by’ in English and their Vietnamese
equivalents
Chapter 4. Common errors made by students at Thai Nguyen Medical
College when translating ‘by’ preposition in English.
Chapter 5. Conclusion

4


CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Previous studies
According to the traditional view, the researchers consider that all the senses
of a preposition are highly arbitrary and are not related to one another. Otto
Jesperseen (1933), 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: at, in, on, for, under, over, etc.
Quirk and Greenbaum (1985) concerns about the relational meanings the
prepositions establish among the constituents of the sentence and the fact that
prepositions meanings are difficult to describe systematically in “A concise
Grammar of English”.
Lawal (2004) show 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.
Concerning the usage of prepositions, Hayden, et.al (1996) mentions in his
grammar textbook “Mastering American English” that: ‘a preposition shown a
relationship between its object and other words in a sentence.... Some of the
relationships that prepositions express are 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, on, in, to, with,
for, by) in “An English Grammar for Teachers of English as a Second Language”
(1978). He recommends that the beginner of English should master at an early
stage the primary meanings of the nine prepositions in his book.
Prepositions have been deeply studied by Vietnamese linguists, such as Cao
Xuan Hao, Nguyen Kim Than, Diep Quang Ban, Nguyen Tai Can, Bui Duc Tinh,
Tran Ngoc Dung.

5

Cao Xuan Hao (1991) suggest that prepositions are markers, or possible
called by other names like transposition, from markers to roles.
Diep Quang Ban (1991) states that preposition like conjunction is used to
express the relationship among words of open word classes. The function of
conjunction is not to express the grammatical meaning.
Bui Duc Tinh (2003) mentions that preposition and preposition phrase are
words used to show the meaning correlativeness of two words or two phrases.
Tran Ngoc Dung (2010) is as follows: Prepositions are acts that mark
relations Subordinate and mark the meanings in the predicate argument structure.
On the basis of the previous studies, it can be seen that the investigation of
prepositions in the formal documents particularly in terms of preposition ‘by’ and
their Vietnamese equivalents have not discussed so far in both languages, English
and Vietnamese. A research problem relating to preposition ‘by’ and their
Vietnamese equivalents has been chosen for my graduation thesis.

2.2. Overview of syntax and semantics
The basic syntactic properties and semantic functions differ in many
languages. In other languages, the prepositions occur after the complement
(subject-object-verb). They arecalled post positions. In English language, they are
usually placed before a noun or a noun equivalent (subject-verb-object).
Languages such as English, French, German, and numerous others are
prepositional languages whereas Korean, Turkish, Finnish, and lots of others
are postpositional languages (Endley, 2010). They often cause problems for
second language learners as there are no one-to-one correspondences between
English and the other languages. Besides, many prepositions have
metaphorical and abstract meanings that a language learner finds difficult to
learn. The task of choosing the right preposition is made even more difficult
when the preposition is used together with a noun, a verb, or an adjective,

especially since there are no general rules by which a preposition is assigned.
For instance, the author of the book – the prepositions on, to, and of are
determined by rely, similar and author respectively. While learning, the various
meanings and meaning extensions of prepositions are perhaps the greatest

6


challenge. A pedagogical strategy is essential for students to pay attention to
the co-occurrence, collocation, and discourse behaviour of prepositions.

2.2.1. Syntax
The word “syntax” is derived from the Greek “syntaxis”, which means
“arrangement”. Syntax in linguistics deal with the ways the elements of a sentence
or phrase can be arranged to express different meanings. In the other, 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 an
arrangement of words in a sentence. The term syntax is also 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 in 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, simply 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.
Syntax plays important roles in language, it makes human language unlimited.
Humans can create news sentences or phrases to express different meanings with
the rules of syntax.

2.2.2. 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

7


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 was 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 basic study to
investigate syntax and semantic features of preposition ‘by’ in English.
2.3. An overview of the prepositions
Prepositions are words used to combine nouns and noun structures to other
structures in a sentence. However, they have different characteristics and usages in
each language. English prepositional usage may be treated in different ways
depending on the starting point chosen and the aspects that are being emphasized.

2.3.1. 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 other element such as noun, pronoun,

8


verbs. Thus, the study of preposition should be focus on finding characteristics of
prepositional phrase than separating them from other elements.

2.3.1.1. Definitions
The word preposition 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. According to Advanced Learner’s Dictionary says that a
preposition “is a word or group of words, such as in, from, to, out of and on behalf
of, used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or method”
Prepositional phrase (= a preposition and the noun following it: for example, at
night or after breakfast). For instance, 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. Lawal (2004) indicates prepositions
have 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. Wishon and Burds (1980) state “prepositions are always
followed by noun or pronoun. They are connective words that show the
relationship between the nouns following them and one of the basic sentences
elements: subject, verb, object, or complement”. According to Downing and
Locke (1992), prepositions function in forming a nominal group combining with
other elements to realize a meaning in a sentence. Thus, a study of English
prepositions should focus on finding a role of the prepositional group rather than
separating them from a sentence.

2.3.1.2. Classification of English prepositions
In terms of components, prepositions are divided into two main groups:
simple prepositions and compound prepositions.
Simple prepositions are words like ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘at’, ‘about’, ‘over’, ‘under’
‘off’, ‘of’, ‘for’, ‘to, ‘by’ etc. Here are some examples of the uses of simple
prepositions. Examples:

9


He goes to bed at about 11.30.

(21:42)

On my last expedition I was in Hawaii.

(21:99)

He’s going to call her up.

(21:100)

From here to my school, it takes a half hour.

(12:30)

We arrived in November.

(21:101)

Would you like to sit down?

(21:92)

Milk is very good for children and elderly people.

(12:32)

There is a book under the table.

(12:32)

Where does this road lead to?

(12:56)

We usually go to school by bus.

(12:57)

Compound prepositions include two sub-groups:
The first one includes prepositions with closely linked components, e.g.:
‘into’, ‘onto’, ‘underneath’, ‘until’ ‘within’, ‘without’, ‘upon’, ‘between’, etc.
The following italicized and bold are examples of compound prepositions.
Examples:
The chair moved out into the sunshine.

(21:64)

I lost my keys somewhere between the car and the house.

(36:149)

People looked up and screamed. Luke was 20 meters
above the ground.

(21:64)

You must get the job done within the next year.

(21:35)

Beyond the mid -1990s all of our offices had-shifted-to
word Processors.

(21:45)

They climbed through the window.

(21:65)

He walked out of the park.

(21:65)

The second one includes prepositions with separate components such as:
- Adv. + Prep.: out of away from, according to, thanks to, up to, next to.

10


Examples:
He walked up the hill.

(36:131)

She is up to the top ten students in her class.

(21:35)

I can pass the exams thanks to her help.

(21:34)

According to me, she is a very good student.

(36:87)

Mr. Green is out of town this week.

(21:31)

The police station is next to the shopping mail.

(21:32)

- Prep. + N + Prep: in front of, on top of, at the back of; in spite of, on
account of, in accordance with, with the exception of etc.
Examples:
There isn’t any plant in front of the desk.

(21:49)

Put this book on top of the others.

(36:1999)

His name is at the back of the cover’s story.

(21:34)

In spite of being a good student, she fails the exams.

(21:56)

She is in accordance with her classmate in doing the assignment. (21:78)
On account of raining I stay at home today.

(21:67)

In terms of meanings, prepositions are divided into five groups: prepositions
of place, prepositions of time, prepositions of reason, prepositions of manner and
concession. It should be noted that prepositions usually have more than one
meaning. Therefore, they can be used to show several types of relations depending
on the context.
(i) Preposition of place: at, on, in, up, down, off, etc … Examples:
She lives on a jet plane.

(12:41)

The bathroom is in the cockpit.

(12:131)

Turn off the lights before going out the room.

(21:67)

She gets up at 5 o ’clock every morning.

(21:56)

He lives down on Romary Avenue.

(21:45)

11

(ii) Preposition of time: at, on, in, for, since, during, pending, etc...
Examples:
At 8.00 he drives the island’s children to school

(12:25)

She gets up at 6.00.

(12:127)

A Scotsman, John Logie Baird, transmitted the first
television picture on 25th November 1905.

(21:62)

She has lived here since she graduated this university.

(13:76)

My father has been working here for 12 years.

(12:43)

During my holiday, I stay at home.

(13:49)

(iii) Preposition of reason: out of, because of, due to. Examples:

He walked slowly because of his bag leg.

(36:133)

The team’s success was largely due to her efforts.

(36:549)

The motor is run out of petrol.

(13:56)

Because of bad weather I have to delay the departure time.

(13:45)

She has been promoted due to her work hard.

(13:46)

(iv) Preposition of manner: like, as. Examples:
Do not talk like that.

(30:1050)

I respect him as writer and as a man.

(30:84)

He looks like his father.

(9:57)

As she goes to school the lesson has finished.

(9:63)

(v) Preposition of concession: in spite of, despite, in defiance of, etc …
Examples:
They had a wonderful holiday, despite the bad weather.

(36:475)

They went out in spite of the rain.

(36:1817)

2.3.1.3. Position of English preposition in sentences
The relative ordering of prepositions are important factors in sentence. They
may appear in one of the following positions in the sentence.
- In front of a noun, a pronoun, or a noun phrase. Examples:

12


Look at the time! We should have been at the theatre ten
minutes ago.

(36:1068)
(13:64)

Fran is looking for him.
She has a staff of 19 working under her.

(36:2056)

- At the last position of wh-questions. Examples:
What do you look for? We look for improvement in your work.
Where does she come from? She comes from London.

(36:3056)
(36:332)

- Apart from that, prepositions can appear either before or after the relative
pronouns. Examples:
The engineer about (whom) you are speaking is a good specialist.

(12:113)

This is the book that I came for.

(12:145)

Or they can appear at the end of the passive sentence. Examples:
Everything he said was laughed at.

(12:21)

He is a man whose word can be relied on.

(12:34)

2.3.1.4. English prepositional phrases
English prepositional phrases also play an important role in sentence
structures. According to Advanced Learner’s Dictionaries (2008), prepositional
phrase is defined that “a phrase with a preposition as its main word. The
preposition comes at the beginning of the phrase and is followed by a noun”.
Richard Norquist (2006) states that prepositional phrase adds meaning to the
nouns and verbs in sentences.
An English prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, and an object of
preposition. The prepositional phrases are used as adjectives or adverbs. For
example, in the prepositional phrase ‘under the table’, the word ‘under’ acts as
preposition and ‘the table’ acts as the object of the preposition.
In “Fundamentals of English traditional syntax”, Assoc. Prof. Tran Huu
Manh (2008) writes that according to the meanings of the prepositional phrase (or
meaning of preposition for short), we have preposition of place, time, reason,

13


manner and concession. Therefore, prepositional phrases are also divided into five
sub-groups, such as preposition phrases for place, prepositional phrases for time,
prepositional phrases for reason, prepositional phrases for manner, and
prepositional phrases for directions.
Like prepositions, English prepositional phrase also perform seven primary
grammatical functions within sentences in the language. They are preposition
head, noun phrase modifier, noun phrase complement, adjective phrase
complement, verb phrase complement, adjunctive adverbial and disjunctive
adverbial.
The first primary grammatical function that prepositional phrase perform is

the preposition head. A preposition consists of a preposition plus another phrase or
clause that functions as the prepositional complement.
Examples:
I usually meet friends in restaurants and bars.

(12:32)

Your name comes after mine in the list.

(12:32)

I’ll meet you in front of the stadium entrance.

(13:54)

There is a lot of friends out of the class.

(13:26)

I’ll visit Ho Chỉ Minh city by the end of this month.

(13:31)

There is an interesting talk at the beginning of the festival
(13:15)

international film.

In above examples, ‘in’, ‘after’, ‘in front of’, ‘out of’, ‘by the end’, ‘at the
beginning of’ prepositional phrases function as preposition heads.

The second primary grammatical function that prepositional phrase perform
is the noun phrase modifier. A noun phrase modifier is a word, phrase or clause
that modifies or describes a noun including a noun phrase.
Examples:
The money is on the table with the shopping list.

(36:2172)

I can only move it with your help.

(36:2172)

In above examples, ‘with the shopping list’ and ‘with your help’
prepositional phrases function as noun phrase modifiers.

14