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Laborious Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Prepositions
Hi teachers,
I was searching for the usage(s) of different prepositions we have in English. And I found that almost every dictionary available online has a list of the usages for every preposition.
Since I found it a little difficult to remember all the possible usages (of a preposition) given in dictionaries, I would like to ask you if there is a way of getting the general meaning of a preposition.
Thank you.
I was searching for the usage(s) of different prepositions we have in English. And I found that almost every dictionary available online has a list of the usages for every preposition.
Since I found it a little difficult to remember all the possible usages (of a preposition) given in dictionaries, I would like to ask you if there is a way of getting the general meaning of a preposition.
Thank you.
Top answer
To the extent that the concept makes sense at all here, I would say that the "general meaning" is the spatial/physical meaning, assuming one exists. This is then adapted to abstract situations. However, in cases of high abstraction or idiomatic/arbitrary usage it may be hard to see much connection.
- To the extent that the concept makes sense at all here, I would say that the "general meaning" is the spatial/physical meaning, assuming one exists.
- This is then adapted to abstract situations.
- However, in cases of high abstraction or idiomatic/arbitrary usage it may be hard to see much connection.
- Preposition usage can be idiomatic and unpredictable, in which case you have to learn usage patterns individually.
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2 Answers
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To the extent that the concept makes sense at all here, I would say that the "general meaning" is the spatial/physical meaning, assuming one exists. This is then adapted to abstract situations. However, in cases of high abstraction or idiomatic/arbitrary usage it may be hard to see much connection. Preposition usage can be idiomatic and unpredictable, in which case you have to learn usage patterns
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GPYTo the extent that the concept makes sense at all here, I would say that the "general meaning" is the spatial/physical meaning, assuming one exists.This is the one that is generally listed first in dictionaries. I prefer to think of it as the 'core' meaning, but that's merely a personal preference.
Once we get beyond that meaning, there is little
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