Today we are going to speak about the prepositions
of English and Arabic This is very tricky subject
since
English has 150 prepositions,
150 prepositions, while Arabic has only 20
prepositions, six of them are widely used. So
there is no equivalence between the prepositions
of English and the prepositions of Arabic. The
meaning is conveyed straightforwardly in Arabic by
using only one preposition. However, the same
meaning can be conveyed in a number of
prepositions in English. So this causes confusion
and makes our students, I mean the Arab students,
to commit serious errors in using prepositions.
Most of them are interlingual errors. They result
from Arabic. The preposition of English has
semantic function and syntactic function. Semantic
function means it gives a meaning. It refers to
place, time, a position, manner, etc.
Syntactically, it refers to case assignment.
The case I mean nominative, accusative, and
genitive case. Mainly the genitive case and the
dative case are assigned by prepositions in a
certain places a language. So we have, for
example, John gave Mary a book. John gave a book
to Mary. To Mary, Mary, John here is a subject
assigned nominative case, while book is direct
object assigned accusative case and to Mary, Mary
is prepositional object assigned dative case. The
dative case is equivalent to accusative case,
fatha, but it is assigned by the preposition, the
dative preposition too. At the same time, we have
our other prepositions assigned genitive case,
completely like Arabic, kasra. So we have He
arrived in London. This means he dominantly lives
or stays in London. He arrives in London is
different from he arrives at London. Okay? At
London means transitional arrival. However, in
London means dominant stay
in London. Okay, here he arrived in London or at
London, the prepositional noun London is assigned
genitive case by the prepositions at or in. Most
of the prepositions assign genitive case except
the dative preposition to, which assigns dative
case, which is equivalent to accusative case.
Okay. Semantically, we see that the prepositions
are of different semantic functions. We have
prepositions of time. So we have in, at, on,
after, before, etc. Now in is related to, it
precedes months, years, seasons, and parts of the
day. So we have in months, we say in July, in
September. For years, we say in 1985, 1999.
Seasons, we say in summer, in the summer of 1969,
for example. We say in the morning, in the
afternoon, in the evening. But if you speak about
very, very specific time, we use at. I say at
noon, at dawn, at sunset. I mean the moment which
refers to the existence of dawn, noon, or sunset.
However, if you speak about long duration, you say
in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening.
Okay? Also durations we see in, I say in a minute,
in two weeks, in an hour, in a day, in a month, in
15 days. This is duration. However, at refers to
part of the day, as in we say at night, at six o
'clock, at midnight. We speak about time, not
duration. Also, we refer to celebrations by using
at. At Christmas, at Easter, at Ramadan feast,
etc.
If you speak about fixed phrases, we use also at.
So we say at the same time, not in the same time,
at the same time.
On refers to the days. Days of the week take on.
Dates of the days also take on. I say on Sunday,
on Friday, on 25th of December. The date and days
of the week receive on. Special holidays, we say
on Good Friday, on Easter Sunday, on my birthday.
We mean the day. Okay? If you speak about special,
very special part of the day, I say on the morning
of September. So this is specific, not generic.
Okay? on the morning of September. We see in the
morning. Which morning? In the afternoon. In the
evening. This is generic. However, speaking
specifically about one special morning becomes on.
Okay, you see? On the morning of September the
11th. After refers also to time. I say, after
something happened, later than something happened,
after school,
after lecture,
after arrival, after the accident. It refers to
something happening after another thing. Pay
attention, please.
Ago. Ago refers to the past. Okay? So it comes
after time. Okay? It refers to how far something
happened in the past. Six years ago. Five days
ago. Three hours ago. An hour ago. It refers to
past. Past simple. Before, it's the opposite of
after, but it refers to something that happened
earlier than some other things. I say before
Christmas, before Ramadan feast, before Al-Adha
Eid or feast, okay? Between, it refers also to
separate two points. I say between Monday and
Friday. So this is a duration of time between.
We can use also by referring to time as well. So
we say not later than a special time by Thursday.
By Thursday. Okay, they are going to finish the
project or they will have the project finished by
the end of April by the end of April Okay, not
later than a special time. Yeah, not not later
than the end of April Okay During
So it refers to progressive action action will
happen during a period of time through the whole
period of time. We say, for example, during the
holidays, most of us have picnics to the seashore.
Okay?
During the holidays. For, it refers also to the
period of time. for three weeks. This is duration.
I stay in Gaza for six months. I have stayed in
Gaza for six months. I have stayed in Gaza for
five months. I have stayed in Gaza since last
April. So for refers to duration. While since
refers to time. Okay. They are the key
prepositions used with present perfect Okay,
so I stay I have stayed for three weeks From to
from till until these are our prepositions which
are mainly used to refer to time. Two points from
a period, from Monday to Wednesday, for example.
From two. From Monday till Wednesday. Two is
equivalent to till. From Monday until Wednesday.
Two till until. They are of the same meaning. They
refer to two points from one period to another.
From Monday to Wednesday.
Okay. Past. Past as a preposition. It refers to
time of the day. Twenty-three minutes past six.
Okay. Half past six. Okay. So it refers to time,
the clock time. Okay. Since refers to point, not
duration. Specific point. Okay. Point of time. I
say since Monday. I haven't seen them since they
traveled to London. I haven't seen him since he
traveled to Egypt. The time he traveled. The point
of time he traveled. So this is referred to by
using since. Okay.
Till and until also refer to time. I say till
tomorrow, until tomorrow, the same thing.
Too, it also refers to time of the day. Okay. So
we have twenty three minutes to six. Okay. Here we
have to and past past refers to after and to
refers to before okay up to and not more than
special time up to six hours a day within It's
during a period of time, within a day. I will
finish the project within a day, within two days,
within a month, within a year.
These are the propositions of time. So we speak
about different propositions, mainly in, on, at,
for, since, after, before, till, until, ago, past,
to, up to, within, between, during. Okay.
These refer to time. Okay. Now, if you translate
them into Arabic, We speak about nearly 20
prepositions, but if they translated into Arabic,
they can be referred to by using Fi, one, or Men,
two prepositions only versus 20 prepositions in
English. So this faces or this makes difficulty
for your students to translate. And you yourself
commit serious errors in translation, in the use
of prepositions. Which to use? Which to use? On or
in or at?
Between, for example, or among? So it's quite
difficult. You have to understand these
prepositions, their semantic function, their
lexical function, their syntactic function very
perfectly. Okay? And you have to use them
contextually. We have the prepositions of place
and direction.
I traveled from Rafah to Gaza. أسكن في غزة من إلى
في Okay, this refers to place in Arabic however in
English we have lots of Prepositions as you see
let's see We sit in the room now. We are in the
room Okay The laptop is on the table Okay
Here we have the
duster is under the table, on the table, okay? Now
it's on the board, on the board, okay? If I put it
overhead, it's at top of or in top of sorry in top
of okay so we have lots of prepositions of place
in English however in Arabic you have at most
three prepositions this make is this makes
confusion and lead your students to commit serious
interlingual errors, not intralingual,
interlingual errors. And also we have intralingual
errors committed in using prepositions. We sit in
the room. I see a house in the picture. You have
the picture containing lots of things. including a
house. So I see a house in the picture. There are
trout in the river. He lives in Paris. I found the
picture in the paper. He sits in the corner of the
room. The first hand side corner, the second hand
side corner, the second right-hand side corner,
the first right-hand side corner, the first left
-hand side corner, the second left-hand side
corner. So in the left-hand side corner, in the
right-hand side corner, etc. Okay? He sits in the
back of the car. We arrive in Madrid. He gets in
the car. We speak about the space inside
something. We stay in the room. So the room
represents a place, a space, and we sit in this
place. So in the room.
Ibtihal is going to stand close to the door. She
is standing by the door, by the door. If the door
is open and she is standing just outside, okay, in
the border of the room, we say, Btehal is standing
at the room, at the room. This is the place. I met
my friend at the hospital. What does it mean? At
the gates of the hospital. I met my friend in the
hospital inside the hospital Okay So we have lots
of prepositions as you see that cover the meaning
of في The
boys stand in a line It's a big tree in the middle
of the garden He is in town I have to stay in bed.
You mustn't park your car in front of the school.
The robber is in prison now.
She sits at the desk. I'm sitting at the desk.
Open your books at page 10. The bus stops at Graz.
Okay, the bus station, I mean, or the bus stop. I
stay at my grandmother's house. I stand at the
door. Look at the top of the page. The car stands
at the end of the street. Can we meet at the
corner of the street? I met John at a party. Pat
wasn't at home yesterday. I study economics at
university. So we study at the Islamic University
of Gaza. We can't say we study in the Islamic
University of Gaza. At the Islamic University of
Gaza. Okay? It refers to your dominant study
in this institution. It is aspectual
meaning. It refers to aspectual meaning, not
concrete meaning. So I say in the class, we are
sitting in the class, okay? We are studying in the
class. All the time we study in this class, the
whole semester long. You understand?
So we study at the class or at the university the
whole semester long. We currently are studying
comparative linguistics in the class. We speak
about now a moment, okay? Specific place. Look at
the top of the page. The car stands at the end of
the street. I'm a Joan at a party. I study
economics at university. The children are at
grandmother's house. If you ask me about my
children, I say to you that they are staying at
home. Okay. So we speak about them. They are in
Khan Yunus and we are now in Gaza. Okay. But if
you ask me about them while I am at home, I say
they are in the home. Okay. He always arrives late
at school. At school. This is for learning. You
see, I say at school. The map lies on the desk. So
in translating the meaning of Fi, we met with lots
of prepositions, mainly in and at. Now, on.
So the map lies on the desk. The picture is on
page 10. The photo hangs on the wall. He lives on
a farm. Dresden lies on the river. Okay, on. On
also refers to, as you see, on place. We spoke
about in. I live in Gaza. She lives in London. You
see?
I'd like to refer to islands. So what prepositions
could I use in places like islands? She lives in
or on Cyprus? On Cyprus. Or are all islands take
on? She lives on Cyprus. Okay. But I live in Gaza.
Okay On a farm We speak about a specific place
surrounded by fence. It's like the island Okay, so
once you speak we speak about on referring to
fields specific areas open areas it refers to
islands. So regarding place, we say we live in
Cyprus, sorry on Cyprus, but in Gaza, in London,
etc. He lives on a farm. Dressed in lies on the
river Elbe. Men's clothes are on the second floor.
On, not in. He lives on Heligoland. Heligoland.
The shop is on the left. My friend is on the way
to Moscow. Okay? Write this information on the
front of the letter. When she was a little girl,
people saw a realistic cowboy film on television.
On. Still, we have other propositions referring to
a place. Okay. So you have above, across, after,
against, along, among, around, behind, below,
beside, between. Okay. We spoke about in, on, and
now we have, we spoke about at yes, now we have
above.
So above refers to higher than something. The
picture hangs above my bed.
Above. The fan is above us. The ceiling is above
us. Above. You have a space between two objects.
Okay?
across from one side to the other side. You must
not go across this road here. There isn't a bridge
across the river. Across.
Okay, once you cross one point to another point,
you use once you pass one point to another point,
you use across. After.
One follows the other. The cat ran after the dog.
Chased the dog. Okay? After you. Against. This
means directed towards something. The bird flew
against the window.
Directed towards something. The bird flew against
the window. Along. In line with. From one point to
another. They are walking along the beach. They
are walking along the beach. Along the river.
Along the
university. Along the university walls.
Among. I like being among people. So between,
between, it refers to two people. However, among
refers to plural.
Around, this is circular way. Circular way refers
to circle. We are sitting around the campfire. The
students circled around the teacher.
Behind, at the back of. Our house is behind the
supermarket. Behind the supermarket. Below, lower
than something. This valley is 86 meters below the
sea level.
Jericho is below the sea level.
Beside means next to our house is beside the
supermarket Between and between two things By
means near he lives in the house by the river and
he close to the river Okay close to also means
near our house is close to the supermarket and
Down, he came down the hill. Up, he came up the
stairs. From this place where it starts, the train
or the bus came from Rafah to Gaza.
Do you come from Tokyo? Where are you from? I'm
from Palestine.
In front of. Our house is in front of the
supermarket. Inside. You shouldn't stay inside the
castle. Into. She came into the room. This means
to the sudden coming of someone. She came into the
room. You shouldn't go into the castle. Okay? Near
this is close to also our house is near the
supermarket next to our house is next to the
supermarket We live in the next door Okay off and
away from something the cat jumped off the roof
Onto moving to a place the cat jumped onto the
roof opposite On the other side, our house is
opposite the supermarket. The cat jumped out of
the window. This is leaving something.
We have outside. Can you wait outside? It is the
opposite of inside. Over. this is above something
the cat jumped over the wall over the wall okay
jumped over the wall so there is no space once you
have a space it is above once there'll be no space
or very specific space then becomes also over past
go past the post office go near the post office
Round, of course, circle. We are sitting around
the campfire. Through, you shouldn't walk through
the forest. عبر يعني. To refers to the verbs of
motion. Where do you have motion, حركة, you use
to. I like going to Australia. Can you come to me?
I've never been to Africa. Travel is motion. I go
to school every day. He came to London for the
first time. Two. Towards. We ran towards the
castle. This is the direction of something. Under
is the opposite of up. The cat is under the table.
He went up the hill. Okay?
Now semantically, prepositions of English have
a meaning and this syntactically refers to some
syntactic function. So the preposition is a word
that is used to connect noun and noun. structure
to another structure in the sentence, I mean
syntactically. The girl is in the garden. The
prepositional object can be Pronoun can be a
pronoun, can be adjective, can be adverb, can be a
clause, can be a gerund. The girl is in the
garden. Ahmed is behind me. This is pronoun. He is
clever at tennis. Clever at. Adjective. Okay. An
adverb. He ran too quickly for his years. I don't
know. I don't care for what you are saying. What
you are saying. I don't care for what you are
saying. What you are saying is a close. We thought
about giving a present. Giving a present is a
gerund.
Now we have The preposition can be used for making
phrasal verbs. Take after, get at, run out of, for
example. Come into, come in, come out. These are
phrasal verbs. They are also used for making
idiomatic adjectives like grateful to, angry with.
We have also prepositional phrases like the
soldier fought with great bravery with great
bravery Prepositional phrases the man or the men
The man in the brown coat is my friend in the
brown coat prepositional phrase Okay however in
Arabic The preposition is a kind of conjunction
that can connect two parts of the sentence with
each other. So they convey a syntactic relation
between noun and verb. This is in Arabic. So we
have وقع الكتاب من أحمد. وقع الكتاب من أحمد. This
is transitive or intransitive verb. intransitive
أخذت الكتابة من علي جلست على البسات وصلت في ساعة
كتبت بالقلم all of these sentences are
intransitive they contain intransitive there also
we have derivational derivations
and their phrases In case of having derivation and
their phrases, we have the preposition. In, ana
katibun bilqalam. Katib, this is derived. This is
nominal subject. Ism fa'al. Ana katibun bilqalam.
Alqalamu maktubun bihi. Katib maktub. What do you
call this? These are called derivations. You still
recall morphology.
These are derivations. We use the preposition ب
which is equivalent to في.
we have also abstract meaning or abstract semantic
function for the prepositions okay لَيْسَ زَيْدٌ
قَائِمٌ حقًا so the meaning is purely abstract
Mostly the preposition as we the preposition in
English Depends on the noun following it. I say on
Sunday in July in winter on the island in London
at school so it depends on the prepositional noun
or the I mean the post noun say that the we have
preposition phrase so the modifier of the of of
the preposition decides the use of this
preposition which preposition we could use it
depends on the modifier following it okay on the
noun following it You see? So this is the
proposition.
The story of the proposition, as I mentioned, is
very tricky. it needs more focus more explanation
more use it depends on more practice so the more
you practice prepositions the more you use them
this means that we have to use them contextually
and in situational use next time we are going to
practice using prepositions and we are going to
see your preparations your presentations so please
have your presentations ready for next time for
teaching prepositions and interpreting
prepositions at the same time okay that's it for
today thank you