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With the development of science and technology, English has played an important role in daily communication and exchange of information (Xing 1). Chinese EFL (English as Foreign Language) learners put great emphasis on English learning. To grasp English, one has to master not only the grammar but also the use of all kinds of parts of speech. Preposition is one of the difficult part of speech to grasp in English.
Poor understandings of the usage of English prepositions can hide learners’ reading comprehension as well as their speaking ability of English. Using prepositions correctly is considered as one of the standards of mastering modern English. Evidently, it is of great importance for learners to have a good command of the usages of these prepositions properly.
As the most popular language in the world, English has produced many changes in the process of communication with other languages. During those thirty years, the development of English arouses people’s attention on the prepositions. What’s more, English is a preposition-focus language because prepositions can express plentiful information (Taylor 33). Thus, it is worth our effort to study prepositions. In conclusion, the exploration of the usage of English prepositions will further improve the domestic study in this area.
II. Classifications of English Prepositions
There are more than two hundred prepositions in English. Naturally, prepositions will produce many different usages in the specific context. In order to study the usage of English prepositions, it needs to study prepositions from different perspectives to have a simple and direct knowledge of them. So it is a must to have a study of the classifications of English prepositions. Classifications of prepositions are varied from different perspectives. Since the birth of English prepositions, many scholars express their opinions of the categories publicly. Some even put forward their ideas in books related to prepositions. Therefore, many of these books have made a specific introduction of prepositions, as well as the exclusive classifications of these words. All in all, there are mainly three classifications of prepositions. In terms of form, prepositions can be pided into simple prepositions, compounding prepositions, and prepositions with -ing suffix. According to meaning, prepositions are comprised of several different parts, such as time, place, position, or others. State also plays a crucial part in the pision. There are three states: static prepositions, dynamic prepositions, and prepositions possessing both characters. Now, the next part will present further interpretations.
2.1 Classification of Prepositions by Form
The preposition can be classified as simple preposition and complex preposition by form. The former is formed by a single word, while the latter is made up of at least two words. The complex preposition consists of two words, three words and four words, which can be distinctively called two-word preposition, three-word preposition, and four-word preposition.