從零開始學(xué)語法:方位介詞辨析
1. at, in, on
at 一般指小地方;in 一般指大地方或某個范圍之內(nèi);on 往往表示“在某個物體的表面”。例如:
He arrived in Shanghai yesterday. 他昨天到上海。
They arrived at a small village before dark. 他們在天黑前到達一個小村莊。
There is a big hole in the wall. 墻上有個大洞。
The teacher hung a picture on the wall. 老師把一幅畫掛在墻上。
2. over, above, on
over, on 和 above 都可表示“在……上面”,但具體含義不同。Over 表示位置高于某物,在某物的正上方,其反義詞是under。above 也表示位置高于某物,但不一定在正上方,其反義詞是below。On 指兩個物體表面接觸,一個在另一的上面。例如:
There is a bridge over the river. 河上有一座橋。
We flew above the clouds. 我們飛越云層。
They put some flowers on the teacher's desk. 他們把一些花放在講桌上。
3. across, through
across 和 through 均可表示“從這一邊到另一邊”,但用法不同。Across 的含義與 on 有關(guān),表示動作在某一物體的表面進行。Through 的含義與 in 有關(guān),表示動作是在三維空間進行。例如:
The dog ran across the grass. 狗跑過草地。
The boy swam across the river. 那男孩游過河。
They walked through the forest. 他們穿過森林。
I pushed through the crowds. 我擠過人群。
4. in front of, in the front of
in front of 表示“在某人或某物的前面”,在某個范圍以外;in the front of 表示“在……的前部”,在某個范圍以內(nèi)。例如:
There are some tall trees in front of the building. 大樓前有一些高大的樹。
The teacher is sitting in the front of the classroom. 老師坐在教室前面。
5. among, between
兩者都含有“在……中間”的意思。 一般說法是:among 用于“三者或三者以上之間”,而 between 則用于“兩者之間”。例如:
I bought three hundred eggs and there was not a single bad one among them. 我買了三百雞蛋,里面一個壞的也沒有。
What's the difference between Asian elephants and African elephants? 亞洲象與非洲象有什么不同?
不過這個定義過于簡單。Oxford上對于兩者的解釋是:"Among" is used of people or things considered as a group. "Between" is used of people or things, either two in number or more than two considered individually.
1) among 除了表示多于兩者之間的關(guān)系外,更重要是它表達了“在其中”的意思。究竟是多少人或事并不重要,因為他們/它們已經(jīng)被視為一體。例如:
He stood among the crowd. 他站在人群中。
There is a thief among you. 你們中間有一個是小偷。
She divided the money among her three children. 她把錢分給了她的三個孩子。
2) Between 可用于“三者或三者以上之間”,指每個人或物與別的每個人或物分別發(fā)生聯(lián)系,例如:
A treaty was signed between Great Britain, France and the United States. 英國同法國、美國分別有協(xié)定。
Ecuador lies between Columbia, Peru, and the Pacific Ocean. 厄瓜多爾位于哥倫比亞、秘魯和太平洋之間。
3) Between 在表示“合作、協(xié)力”的意義時,其賓語不受所涉及到的個體數(shù)目的限制。例如:
The three children saved over a hundred pounds between them. 三個孩子一共賺了一百多英鎊。
The three men tried to lift the box between them. 三個人一齊用力想把箱子抬起來。
Among 也有相同的用法:
They finished the work among themselves. 他們共同完成了這項工作。