Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Thanks and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Tasks
- Introductory unit
- 1 Language standards and rules
- 2 Varieties of English
- 3 Types of grammar
- 4 Language systems and syllabuses
- 5 Forms and functions
- 6 An introduction to phonology
- 7 The consonants
- 8 The vowels
- 9 Rhythm and connected speech
- 10 Sentence stress and intonation
- 11 Word formation, spelling and word stress
- 12 Lexical meaning
- 13 Word classes and phrases
- 14 Sentence structure: the simple sentence
- 15 Sentence structure: the complex sentence
- 16 Negatives and questions
- 17 The verb phrase
- 18 Time and tense
- 19 Aspect: progressive
- 20 Aspect: perfect
- 21 Modality
- 22 Futurity
- 23 Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
- 24 The noun phrase
- 25 Determiners
- 26 Adjectives and adverbs
- 27 Prepositions and phrasal verbs
- 28 Cohesion
- 29 Texts
- 30 Conversation
- Key and commentaries
- Introductory unit
- 1 Language standards and rules
- 2 Varieties of English
- 3 Types of grammar
- 4 Language systems and syllabuses
- 5 Forms and functions
- 6 An introduction to phonology
- 7 The consonants
- 8 The vowels
- 9 Rhythm and connected speech
- 10 Sentence stress and intonation
- 11 Word formation, spelling and word stress
- 12 Lexical meaning
- 13 Word classes and phrases
- 14 Sentence structure: the simple sentence
- 15 Sentence structure: the complex sentence
- 16 Negatives and questions
- 17 The verb phrase
- 18 Time and tense
- 19 Aspect: progressive
- 20 Aspect: perfect
- 21 Modality
- 22 Futurity
- 23 Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
- 24 The noun phrase
- 25 Determiners
- 26 Adjectives and adverbs
- 27 Prepositions and phrasal verbs
- 28 Cohesion
- 29 Texts
- 30 Conversation
- References
- Index
27 - Prepositions and phrasal verbs
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 February 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Thanks and Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Tasks
- Introductory unit
- 1 Language standards and rules
- 2 Varieties of English
- 3 Types of grammar
- 4 Language systems and syllabuses
- 5 Forms and functions
- 6 An introduction to phonology
- 7 The consonants
- 8 The vowels
- 9 Rhythm and connected speech
- 10 Sentence stress and intonation
- 11 Word formation, spelling and word stress
- 12 Lexical meaning
- 13 Word classes and phrases
- 14 Sentence structure: the simple sentence
- 15 Sentence structure: the complex sentence
- 16 Negatives and questions
- 17 The verb phrase
- 18 Time and tense
- 19 Aspect: progressive
- 20 Aspect: perfect
- 21 Modality
- 22 Futurity
- 23 Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
- 24 The noun phrase
- 25 Determiners
- 26 Adjectives and adverbs
- 27 Prepositions and phrasal verbs
- 28 Cohesion
- 29 Texts
- 30 Conversation
- Key and commentaries
- Introductory unit
- 1 Language standards and rules
- 2 Varieties of English
- 3 Types of grammar
- 4 Language systems and syllabuses
- 5 Forms and functions
- 6 An introduction to phonology
- 7 The consonants
- 8 The vowels
- 9 Rhythm and connected speech
- 10 Sentence stress and intonation
- 11 Word formation, spelling and word stress
- 12 Lexical meaning
- 13 Word classes and phrases
- 14 Sentence structure: the simple sentence
- 15 Sentence structure: the complex sentence
- 16 Negatives and questions
- 17 The verb phrase
- 18 Time and tense
- 19 Aspect: progressive
- 20 Aspect: perfect
- 21 Modality
- 22 Futurity
- 23 Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
- 24 The noun phrase
- 25 Determiners
- 26 Adjectives and adverbs
- 27 Prepositions and phrasal verbs
- 28 Cohesion
- 29 Texts
- 30 Conversation
- References
- Index
Summary
1–3 Here is the full list of prepositions in the text:
Note that ‘to’ in got him to focus is usually classed as part of the infinitive (to focus) and not as a preposition. Notice, also, how many prepositions, such as for and in, can express more than one kind of meaning, and, furthermore, that one kind of meaning, such as time, can be expressed by different prepositions. This lack of a one-to-one match between prepositions and their meanings, along with their metaphorical uses, makes them extremely difficult to learn.
4 a The completed chart looks like this:
Note that these are only the most common prepositions that realise these concepts. As well as to, for example, toward(s) and up to can both be used to indicate movement to a point.
b The important points to note are that, in the words of Greenbaum and Quirk (1990):
‘First, the prepositions are contrasted as ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ (such that off, for example, means ‘not on’). Secondly, the prepositions distinguish between ‘destination’ (movement with respect to an intended location) and ‘position’ (static location). Thirdly, we have three dimension types: one which ignores dimension altogether, treating location as a point even if in reality it is a continent:
He walked to the lamp-post.
They fl ew to Australia.
The second dimension type embraces what is in real space either one-dimensional or twodimensional:
She put her toe on the line.
They were alone on the tennis court.
The third dimension similarly straddles two actual dimensions: two-dimensional and threedimensional space:
Some cows were grazing in the field.
My coat is in the wardrobe.’
5 When we talk about ‘position’ in time, we can conceptualize it – like space – as points: at 4 o’clock, at noon, at/by/around midnight; or as a surface: on (a) Sunday; on our holiday; or as a container: in the year, in the afternoon, in the morning, in September, in midwinter. We can also move to and from points of time (from one second to the next), or out of a ‘container’ of time: out of the past. Like place, we can also conceptualize the ‘same’ time in different ways, so that it would be possible to say both to the future and into the future.
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- About LanguageTasks for Teachers of English, pp. 320 - 325Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2017