| 介系詞係在敘述句子中其他字之間的關係。"in"
或 "after"
等介系詞本身沒有意義，且很難用字來定義。例如，當你試著定義
"in" 或 "between" 或 "on"
等介系詞時，你必須用雙手來表現某物與他物之間的位置關係。介系詞幾乎都是與其他字結合成所謂的介系詞片語結構。介系詞片語可由一百萬個字來構成，但它們的構造似乎都相同：一個介系詞後面接一個或兩個修飾語，再接一個名詞
(稱為介系詞的受詞)。然後，這整個片語扮演修飾的角色 --
作為形容詞或副詞，指出某事物的空間和時間，或說明某事是在何時、何地或何種情況下發生。 介系詞在所謂的介系詞片語結構中其後幾乎都是跟隨著介系詞的受詞。介系詞片語中通常也包括介系詞與受詞之間的修飾語：behind
the incredibly expensive desk, after the long, tedious class。若干介系詞除了指出時間或空間外還有其他功能
-- "My brother is like my father." "Everyone in the class except
me got the answer." --
但他們幾乎都是以某種方式來做修飾用。介系詞片語也可能做為名詞
-- "During a church service is not a good time to discuss picnic plans."
或 "In the South Pacific is where I long to be." --
但這在正式或學術文章的寫作中並不適當。
下面為我們整理出來的一般常見的介系詞，我們以表格方式將之列出：
about
above
across
after
against
around
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond |
by
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
|
on
out
outside
over
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
up
upon
with
without |
according to
because of
by way of
in addition to
in front of
in place of
in regard to
in spite of
instead of
on account of
out of
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| 你可能已學過將介系詞置於句末係嚴重違反文法規則。這項「謬誤」很容易被發現!
雖然我們通常可以輕易地來改正這個「違法」的介系詞，但將介系詞置於句末，實則為英語成語之特徵；有時故意避免句末的介系詞，反而使句子顯得累贅、笨拙。不喜歡這個規則的人一定會非常懷念前英國首相，也是1953年諾貝爾文學獎得主的邱吉爾的一句話："That
is nonsense up with which I shall not put." [那 (指上述規則)
是我無法忍受的胡說八道]。 |
對英語為第二語言的學生而言，介系詞用法的錯綜複雜讓許多人一個頭兩個大。例如，我們說
"we are at the hospital to visit a friend who is in the hospital. We
lie in bed but on the couch. We watch a film at the movies but on
television."。本頁將包含一些有趣但有時麻煩的介系詞，並有簡要的用法說明。若要解決慣用語中介系詞的所有潛在問題，可能需要好幾本專書，因此英語學習者能夠精通介系詞用法的唯一方法是不斷的練習及密切注意慣用語。手邊隨時準備一本好字典是重要的第一步。
時間介系詞 (Prepositions of Time): at，on，和 in
我們使用 at 來指定特定的時間：
- The train is due at 12:15 p.m.
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我們使用 on 來指定日期：
- My brother is coming on Monday.
- We're having a party on the Tenth of October.
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我們使用 in
來指定一天、一月、一季或一年中非特定的時間：
- She likes to jog in the morning.
- It's too cold in winter to run outside.
- He started the job in 1971.
- He's going to quit in August.
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地方介系詞(Prepositions of Place): at，on，和 in
我們使用 at 來指定特定的地址：
- Grammar English lives at 55 Boretz Road in Durham.
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我們使用 on 來指定街道等名稱：
- Her house is on Boretz Road.
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我們使用 in 來指定陸地區域 (鄉鎮、縣市、州省、國家和洲)：
- She lives in Durham.
- Durham is in Windham County.
- Windham County is in Connecticut.
|
位置介系詞(Prepositions of Location): in，at，on 及零介系詞
| In |
On |
At |
零介系詞 |
(the) bed*
the bedroom
the car
(the) class*
the library*
school* |
class*
home
the library*
the office
school*
work |
the bed*
the ceiling
the floor
the horse
the plane
the train |
downstairs
downtown
inside
outside
upstairs
uptown |
| *
對這些位置，你有時可以使用不同的介系詞。 |
行動介系詞(Prepositions of Movement): to 及零介系詞
我們使用 to 來表示朝向某個地方的動作：
- They were driving to work together.
- She's going to the dentist's office this morning.
|
對於 home, downtown, uptown, inside, outside, downstairs, upstairs
等字，我們不用介系詞：
- Grandma went upstairs.
- Grandpa went home.
- They both went outside.
|
時間介系詞: for 和 since
我們使用 for 來度量時間 (秒鐘、分鐘、小時、天數、月和年)：
- He held his breath for seven minutes.
- She's lived there for seven years.
- The British and Irish have been quarreling for seven centuries.
|
對於特定的日期或時間，我們使用 since：
- He's worked here since 1970.
- She's been sitting in the waiting room since two-thirty.
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介系詞與名詞，形容詞和動詞
介系詞有時與其他字緊密結合而幾乎可以當做一個字來看待。事實上，在其他語言中，如德語，它們已變成一個字。這分成三類：名詞，形容詞和動詞。
| 名詞與介系詞 |
approval of
awareness of
belief in
concern for
confusion about
desire for |
fondness for
grasp of
hatred of
hope for
interest in
love of |
need for
participation in
reason for
respect for
success in
understanding of |
形容詞與介系詞 |
afraid of
angry at
aware of
capable of
careless about
familiar with |
fond of
happy about
interested in
jealous of
made of
married to |
proud of
similar to
sorry for
sure of
tired of
worried about |
動詞與介系詞 |
apologize for
ask about
ask for
belong to
bring up
care for
find out |
give up
grow up
look for
look forward to
look up
make up
pay for |
prepare for
study for
talk about
think about
trust in
work for
worry about |
動詞與介系詞的結合被稱為片語動詞 (phrasal verb)，而與動詞結合的介系詞則被稱為質詞
(particle)。請參考我們對片語動詞所做的解釋。
慣用語與介系詞
- agree to a proposal, with a person, on a price, in principle
- argue about a matter, with a person, for or against a
proposition
- compare to 是在顯示相似性，compare with 是在顯示相異之處 (有時是相似性)。
- correspond to a thing, with a person
- differ from an unlike thing, with a person
- live at an address, in a house or city, on a street, with
other people
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不必要的介系詞
在說英語時，許多人會有個不好的習慣，那就是在不必要的地方使用介系詞，這些介系詞應全部刪除；我們也必須特別注意不要在正式，學術文章中使用不必要的介系詞。
- She met
up with the new coach in the hallway.
- The book fell off
of the desk.
- He threw the book out
of the window.
- She wouldn't let the cat inside
of the house. [或使用
"in"]
- Where did they go
to?
- Put the lamp in back of the couch. [應使用 "behind" 才對：Put the lamp
behind the couch.]
- Where is your college
at?
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平行結構中的介系詞
(按這裡一下看看我們對平行結構所做的定義和討論。)當兩個字或兩個片語採用平行結構且需要相同的介系詞才合乎慣用語的用法
(亦即才是正確的慣用語) 時，這個介系詞不必使用兩次：
You can wear that outfit in summer and in winter.
The female was both attracted by and distracted by the male's dance.
然而，當片語的慣用語用法需要不同的介系詞時，我們必須注意不能省略這兩個介系詞中的任何一個：
The children were interested in and disgusted by the movie.
It was clear that this player could both contribute to and learn from
every game he played.
He was fascinated by and enamored of this beguiling woman.
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