1. Preposition and Prepositional Phrase
Lecture 26
Preposition and
Prepositional Phrase

2. Teaching Contents
26.1 Collocation of prepositions with adjectives, verbs and nouns
26.2 Complex prepositions
26.3 Transformational relations between prepositional phrase and subordinate clauses

3. Preposition is just a class of structural words that indicate various semantic relations between words or expressions.
26.1 Collocation of prepositions with adjectives, verbs and nouns
1) Prepositions after adjectives
Adjectives can collocate with prepositions to form adjective phrases.
Some adjectives can only be followed by specific prepositions, e.g. rich in, intent on, indifferent to.

4. But there are other adjectives that can collocate with different prepositions to express different meanings, e.g. alive to vs. alive with.
There are also adjectives that can be followed by different prepositions without change in meaning, the choice of prepositions being determined by the noun or pronoun that follows.
e.g. Joe was very disappointed at not finding her at home.
His parents will be disappeared with her if she fails the exam.

5. 2) Preposition after verbs
a) verb + prep. e.g prevail on, appeal to
b) verb + object + prep. e.g. exclude…from
c) verb + adverb particle + prep. e.g. break in on, come up against
d) verb + object + adverb particle + prep. e.g. take one’s resentment out on, put something over on
3) Collocation of prepositions with nouns
a) noun + prep. e.g. a solution to, faith in, a glance at
b) prep. + noun e.g. on one’s guard, at one’s request, in all probability

6. .Compare …to / with
Compare … to “把…比作”；compare … with “将…与…作比较”
e.g. Shakespeare compared the world to a stage.
将人世比作舞台
In the Bible, Christians are compared to sheep, evil persons to goats, and the use of wine to serpents.
在《圣经》中，基督教被比作绵羊，坏人被比作山羊，饮酒被比作毒蛇。
The police compared the fingerprints on the gun with these on the door. 将枪上的指纹与门上的相比较。
在较少的情况下，人们有时用compare…to来表达“将…同…作比较”的意思。
e.g. You’ll never really know what happiness is unless you have something to compare it to.

7. 如果你没有某种可比较的东西，你就永远也不会真正明白什么是幸福。
此外，在cannot compare这一结构中，compare to与with是无区别的。
e.g. Social life in a village cannot compare to/with that of a large city.
The south of England is certainly beautiful but it can’t compare with/to the south of France for sunshine.
英格兰南部诚然是美丽的，但是，就充足的阳光而言，它与法国南部是无法相比的。

8. 26.2 Complex prepositions
Complex prepositions, also known as “multi-word prepositions”, refer to combinations that consist of two or more than two words and which perform the function of simple prepositions. They can be divided into:
1) Two-word prep. e.g. according to, except for, ahead of
2) Three-word prep. e.g. at variance with, in spite of, by way of, on/under pain of
3) Four-word prep. e.g. at the expense of, on the ground of, at the mercy of, on the point of

9. 26.3 Transformational relations between prepositional phrase and subordinate clauses
Prepositional phrases, which are used as adverbial in clauses and as modifiers in noun phrases, have transformational relations with some subordinate clauses that perform the same syntactic functions.
1) Prep. phrase vs. that-clause
Are you sure of Simon’s disappearance?
= Are you sure that Simon has disappeared?

10. 2) Prep. phrase vs. adverbial clause
e.g. Despite the city’s many attractions, Johnny still preferred his cottage in the country.
= Although the city has many attractions, Johnny still preferred his cottage in the country.
3) Prepositional phrase vs. relative clause
The man with a red bear is talking to Henry’s father.
= The man who has red beard is talking to Henry’s father.

11. besides / except
1)在否定句中，二者没有区别：除(外)。
I care for nothing besides this. 除了这个之外，我什么都不要。
Nobody besides Emily had skis.除了艾米利之外，谁也没有滑雪板。
2)besides表示“包括、相加”：e.g. What language do you know besides English?
except表示排除在外：He gets up early everyday except Sunday.
Except vs. except for
目前人们用法较灵活，没有大的区别；但是，句首一般使用except for，不用except。当然，except for也用在句末，但 介词短语前只用except。
e.g. None of us had any money, except (for) James.
Except for Xiao Li, we all attended the meeting.
We go to bed before 10, except in summer.

12. despite / in spite of/ for all / with all / not withstanding都表示让步，其区别不在意义上，而是在语域语体上。
Despite比较正式，TOEFL几乎总要求使用这个介词。
e.g. *Despite of heavy rain, the party set out in the morning.
For all / with all是较口语化的词。
e.g. For all/with all this noise, I managed to get some sleep.
Notwithstanding用于正式语体，尤其是法律文件中。
e.g. Notwithstanding any other agreements, we will make a new contract with the firm.