HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGLISH
...…o0o……

GRADUATION THESIS
B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES
A STUDY ON PREPOSITIONS OF DIRECTION AND SOME
COMMON MISTAKES MADE BY FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS
OF ENGLISH AT HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

Supervisor: Dr Ho Ngoc Trung
Student: Le Vo Thanh Thai
Date of birth: 08/08/1993
Class: 1271A04 (2012-2016)

Hanoi - 2016


DECLARATION

Title: A Study on preposition of direction and some common mistakes
made by first-year students of English at Hanoi Open University

I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me
from any other’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is
originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor.

Hanoi, 15th April, 2016

Student


3. i.e :

In explanation

4. Pre :

Preposition

5. PP :

Prepositional Phrase


LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Simple prepositions

Page 8

Table 1.2: Complex prepositions

Page 12

Table 1.3: Semantic Types of Prepositions

Page 21

Table 3.1: Result of the Survey

Page 38

1.3.2.5. Prepositions of Accompaniment........................................... 15
1.3.2.6. Prepositions of Support and Opposition ............................. 16
1.3.2.7. Prepositions of Cause or Reason .......................................... 16
1.3.2.8. Prepositions of Purpose or Intended Destination ............... 17
1.3.2.9. Prepositions of Concession.................................................... 17
1.3.2.10. Prepositions of source and origin ....................................... 18
1.3.2.11. Preposition of recipient, goal, target.................................. 18
1.3.2.12. Prepositions of Price (for, at).............................................. 19
1.3.2.13. Prepositions of subject matter ............................................ 20
1.4. Semantic properties of prepositions .................................................. 21
1.5. Preposition in parallel form................................................................ 22
1.6. Functions of Prepositions.................................................................... 22
1.6.1. Prepositions functioning as adjectives ......................................... 23
1.6.2. Prepositions functioning as adverbs............................................. 23
1.6.3. Prepositions functioning as nominal ............................................ 23
2. Prepositional Phrase ................................................................................. 24
2.1. Definition of prepositional phrase...................................................... 24
2.2. Rules for Prepositional Phrase ........................................................... 25
2.3. Complementation and modification in Prepositional phrase
structure....................................................................................................... 26
CHAPTER 2 PREPOSITION OF DIRECTION....................................... 29
1. Prepositions of direction ........................................................................... 29


1.1. What is preposition of direction?.........................................................29
1.2 Characteristics of prepositions of direction ....................................... 30
2. Typical Prepositions of Direction ............................................................ 30
2.1 Preposition To ....................................................................................... 30
2.1.1 Introduction of preposition To....................................................... 30
2.1.2 Uses of To ......................................................................................... 31

of Faculty of English – Hanoi Open University. During four years studying
English at university, I have studied many subjects which make me realize
that English is much more complicated than I ever thought before. However,
English grammar is the part that I always focus on and spend most of my time
on.
Preposition is one of the most essential parts in English grammar.
Because prepositions can be seen in every phrase and every sentence in
English. Additionally, there are many kinds of preposition which is a problem
for students of English to master them. Among them, prepositions of direction
is seemed to be a very important kind. There are a lot of reference books and
materials related to preposition but not many of them is about prepositions of
direction. Moreover, many students of English often make mistakes when
using them too. Therefore, I decided to conduct a study related to them named
“A study on English prepositions of direction and common mistakes made by
first-year students of English at Hanoi Open University” in order to give an
overview of preposition and prepositions of direction, point out some
common mistakes and suggest solutions.

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Graduation Paper
2. Aims of the study
• Giving an overview of English prepositions and their subclasses. In
particular, prepositions of direction
• Pointing out the usages of typical prepositions of direction
• Investigating common mistakes made by first-year students at Faculty
of English, Hanoi Open University in using English prepositions of

four-year

studying

at

Hanoi

Open

University.

Furthermore, discussions with my classmates and consultation with the
supervisor are really helpful for my paper.
6. Design of the study
My graduation thesis is divided into three parts:
Part I is the introduction, including rationale, aims, scope, methods,
research questions as well as design of the study.
Part II is the development, including three chapters: Chapter I is the
theoretical background which consists of preliminary theory of preposition,
classification of preposition, other features of them, and prepositional phrase.
Chapter II is about prepositions of direction, which consist of overview of
prepositions of direction, analysis some examples, some typical cases.
Chapter III is about some common mistakes made by first-year students of
English at Hanoi Open University, findings and implications.
Part III is the conclusion which summaries what have been discussed
in the previous parts and put an end to the study.

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Graduation Paper
In spite of significance of prepositions, standard grammars often assign
them a rather vague definition, such as “a word that shows the relation of a
noun and pronoun to some other word in a sentence”. (Warriner and Griffith,
1965:16). The key word in this definition is “relation”. “Relations” signaled
prepositions as just noted, are both grammatical (e.g, modifier of noun or
verb) and semantic (e.g, recipient, benefactive). This double role of
prepositions will often provide important clues to the structure sentences.
According to Merriam Webster - The most trustworthy dictionary and
thesaurus of American English ( the
simple definition of preposition is that: Preposition is a word or group of
words that is used with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction,
location, or time, or to introduce an object; Full definition of preposition: a
function word that typically combines with a noun phrase to form a phrase
which usually expresses a modification or predication.
A preposition describes a relationship between other words in a
sentence. In itself, a word like in or after is rather meaningless and hard to
define in mere words. For instance, when you do try to define a preposition
like in or between or on you invariably use your hands to show how
something is situated in relationship to something else. Prepositions are nearly
always combined with other words in structures called prepositional phrases.
Prepositional phrases can be made up of a million different words, but they
tend to be built the same: a preposition followed by a determiner and an
adjective or two, followed by a pronoun or noun (called the object of the
preposition). This whole phrase, in turn, takes on a modifying role, acting as
an adjective or an adverb, locating something in time and space, modifying a
noun, or telling when or where or under what conditions something happened.

• Many nouns, verbs and adjectives are normally used with particular
prepositions
E.g. the reason for, arrive at, angry with, on a bus
• In English prepositions can come at the end of clauses, especially in an
informal style
E.g: What are you talking about?
You are just the person I was looking for.
She’s not very to talk to.
I hate being shouted at.
1.3. Classification of Prepositions
1.3.1. According to compositional types
According to compositional types, there are 2 main kinds of
preposition, they are: simple and complex preposition
1.3.1.1. Simple Prepositions
Most of the common English prepositions, such as: at, in and for, are
simple,… consisting of one word. There are over 100 prepositions in English.
However, the most common single prepositions are:

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Graduation Paper
Table 1.1: Single Prepositions
About

Beside

Near


Onto

Unlike

Along

Down

Opposite

Until

Among

During

Out

Up

Around

Except

Outside

Upon

As


Below

Into

Than

Notwithstanding

Beneath

Like

Through

Apropos(of)

Concerning

E.g. He fell into the lake.
She sat between her dogs.
He stood beside her.
There is nothing inside the jar.
The teacher stood behind the desk.
The boy ran across the road.
Note: In addition to this table, there are a few words which behave in
many ways like prepositions although they have affinities with verbs or
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Graduation Paper
house referred to in the rest of the sentence. Similarly, in the sentence “We
are waiting for her”, the preposition for indicates that the word her expresses
the reason for the action of waiting referred to in the rest of the sentence.
Although there are fewer than one hundred English prepositions,
although prepositions do not take endings, and although the structure of most
prepositional phrases is simple, the use of English prepositions is very
complex. The reasons for this are that most prepositions have more than one
meaning, many prepositions can also be used as adverbs, prepositions are
used in hundreds of idioms, many adjectives, nouns, and verbs must usually
be followed by certain prepositions, and there are hundreds of phrasal verbs
formed from combinations of verbs with adverbs and prepositions.
1.3.1.2. Complex Prepositions
Most complex prepositions are placeable , according to their form, into
one of three categories:
• Adverb + prep or Double Preposition: along with, apart from, aside
from, as for, as to, away from, from behind, into, off of, on to, (or onto),
out of, together with, up to, etc.
E.g. Suddenly he emerged from behind the curtain.
He walked out of the compound.
• Verb/Adjective/conjunction/etc. + Prep: except for, owing to, due to,
but for, because of, etc.
• Prep 1 + noun + Prep 2: by mean of, in comparison with, on account
of, with regard to, in consequence of, etc.
This category may be further subdivided according to which prepositions
function as Prep1 and Prep 2
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Graduation Paper
There are many complex prepositions but the most common ones are:
Table 1.2: Complex prepositions
Along with

Apart from

Aside from

As for

As to

Away from

According to

By means of

By way of

By dint of

By reason of

By virtue of


In contact with

In aid of

In line with

In exchange for

In addition to

In lieu of

In to

At variance

Off of

On to

Out of

Owning to

On account of

On behalf of

On top of

others where something is located. In the following examples, the
prepositions of place have been italicized for ease of identification.
E.g. They spend dinner at home.
Marie was born in France.
Please place the bouquet on the table.
1.3.2.2. Prepositions of Time
A preposition of time is a preposition that allows you to discuss a
specific time period such as a date on the calendar, one of the days of the
week, or the actual time something takes place. Prepositions of time are the
same words as prepositions of place, however they are used in a different
way. You can easily distinguish these prepositions, as they always discuss
times rather than places.
At: This preposition of time is used to discuss clock times, holidays and
festivals, and other very specific time frames including exceptions, such as “at
night.”
In: This preposition of time is used to discuss months, seasons, years,
centuries, general times of day, and longer periods of time such as “in the
past.”
On: This preposition of time is used to discuss certain days of the week
or portions of days of the week, specific dates, and special days such as “on
New Year’s Day.”

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Graduation Paper
Prepositions of time allow you to tell your readers when things are
taking place. They are vital parts of speech to use in stories, as well as when



Graduation Paper
The army swept through the city like a pestilence.
(Quirk, R, 1973: 158)
It is noted that like with intensive verbs, as in: Life is liked a dream,
refer not to manner but to resemblance.
The prepositions of means and instrument include of by, with, without.
By can express the meaning “by means of”:
E.g.

I usually go to work by bus/train/car.
The thief must have entered and left the house by the back door.
By working the pumps, we kept the ship afloat for another 40

hours.
(Quirk, R, 1973:158)
With, on the other hand, expresses instrumental meaning as in:
E.g. He caught the ball with his left hand
Someone had broken the window with a stone
(Quirk, R, 1973:158)
1.3.2.5. Prepositions of Accompaniment
There is only one preposition with the meaning of accompaniment
which is preposition “with”. Especially when followed by an animate
complement, with has the meaning “in company with” or “together with”.
E.g. I’m so glad you’re coming with us
Jock, with several of his friends, was drinking till 2 am.
(Quirk, R, 1973:159)
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Other prepositions of cause or reason include: for, from, due to, owing
to, etc. Phrase of cause and reason answer the question “Why”
1.3.2.8. Prepositions of Purpose or Intended Destination
Let us consider the following examples:
E.g. Everyone ran for shelter.
He’ll do anything for money.
(Quirk, R, 1973:156)
The use of for illustrated above have in common a notion of purpose.
The notion of purpose can be seen from the possibility of paraphrase by a
clause in order to: for money = in order to gain money. Phrases of purpose or
destination answer the questions “Why….?”, “What…for?”, “Where…for?”,
“Who….for?” They frequently occur as post-modifiers as well as adverbials:
The scenery for the play, etc.
1.3.2.9. Prepositions of Concession
There is variety of prepositions expressing the concessional meaning,
such prepositions or prepositional phrase as: despite, in spite of, for + all,
with + all, notwithstanding. Convey the same meaning, concession, though
there is still a little difference in meaning between them and they are often
separated from the main clause by a comma.
E.g. I admire him, in spite of his fault.
He lost the fight, for all his boasting.
(Quirk, R, 1973:161)
With all his boasting and ostentatious training, he was knocked
out in the first round by a man lighter than himself.
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