1. Prepositions
The
first three subsections of this section will examine prepositions of place,
time and movement. Although prepositions can have other meanings – indicating,
for example, subject matter (a song
about love), an object
(to shoot at someone) or a means
(to travel on foot), to deal with every possible
meaning of every preposition is beyond the scope of this
guide, and we consider
these three categories to be the most significant.
1.1.
Prepositions of place
Prepositions
of place, as their name implies, are used to refer to either the place an
object or person is located (eg John is in the kitchen), or the relation
this position has with some other object or person
(John is standing behind Judith). .
At, in, on, inside,
outside, within
When referring to the place a person or thing is located,
the prepositions at, in and
on can all be translated in CATALAN
by a. Obviously this can cause
confusions, which we will try to clear up with the following summary.
At – a (public
buildings, commercial establishments)
In – a (enclosed
or delimited spaces [rooms, etc.]; toponyms [countries, etc.]; water)
On – a, per (surfaces [table, ceiling, floor,
etc.]; areas with no limits; small islands) Examples:
They’re at the theatre.
We met some friends
of ours at the bakery. The children are in the house.
They met in
London.
There’s
a stain on the ceiling.
We walked on
the beach.
We spent our vacation
on Menorca. Note too the following related prepositions of
place. Inside – dins, a la part interior
Inside the house
everything appeared to be undisturbed.
Outside – fora, a la part exterior
I live outside the
city. Within – dins,
no més lluny de
We need more
leadership within the school.
He planted the
firs within twenty feet of the house.
Among and between
Among
–
entre (many)
Between – entre (generally two)
The preposition between describes the relation
between two objects or people, or a relation between many when
considered one by one. The preposition among
is always applied to more than two objects or people, without
distinguishing them individually. Examples:
Andorra lies between Spain and France.
I sit between Mar and Doris.
Between
golf, band practice
and giving classes, I have no time for reading.
The interviews lasted between 45 and 60 minutes.
There were no
men among the survivors.
We
were able to observe deer among the trees.
Above, below, over, under, on, on top of
|
Higher than |
Lower than |
|
Above
– sobre, damunt de |
Below
– sota, davall de |
|
Over
– sobre, damunt de |
Under
– sota, davall de |
|
On
– sobre, damunt de |
|
|
On
top of – sobre,
damunt de |
|
The
prepositional pairs above and below, and over and under, are used
to describe a person or thing that occupies a position higher or lower in
altitude than another. They also
imply that there is no point of contact between
the two elements. In contrast, on and
on top of both imply that there is contact, the latter more
specifically indicating a point of contact at the highest point of some object.
Note too that below is used more
when referring to surfaces and body parts (eg below the water, below the
knee); otherwise, its use is less common than that of under. Examples:
The lamp hangs
above/over the table. A man was sitting on the table.
The suitcase
is on top of the wardrobe.
The dog is sleeping under (not below) the table. No hitting below the belt.
The prepositions over and under have a
tendency to indicate that there is a more or less vertical relation between the
two elements. So, for example, it is
more common to say the hills above (not over) the town (les muntanyetes sobre el poble) or the bridge is 100 metres below (not under) the pass (el pont és a 100 metres sota el coll).
Both over
and under can also imply
movement from one side to another, whereas above
and below don’t. Thus, The bird flew over the mountain
(L’ocell travessava la muntanya volant) and The rabbit burrowed
under the fence (El conill travessava la tanca soscavant).
Beneath
and underneath are
used less frequently as synonyms of under.
Across, ahead of, behind, in back of, in
front of, opposite
Across – a l’altre costat de; arreu de
Ahead of – davant de
Behind – darrere de
In back of – darrere de In front of – davant de Opposite – davant de
Examples:
They live across the street from us.
At markets across
America, people are searching for healthy food. We saw the glow of their taillights ahead of us.
I’m standing behind (in back of [AmE]) Mary. Two women were working behind the bar.
The swings are in front of the house.
She likes to stand in front of the mirror.
She was sitting
opposite you at dinner.
Beside, by, close to, near, next to
Beside – al costat de
By
– al costat de, prop de
Close
to – prop de
Near – prop de
Next
to – al costat de
The students had a picnic beside the river.
The old woman wished to be buried
by her husband. Cut the stem as close to the ground as you can.
We want to
live near the sea.
The
house next to mine sold for two hundred thousand pounds.
Along, around,
beyond, past Along – al llarg de
Around – al voltant de, arreu de, tombant
Beyond
– més enllà de
Past
– (més) enllà de, després de
Plane trees
had been planted
along the highway.
They sat around the fire.
Images were beamed
around the world. Their
house is beyond those fields.
They live
three houses past the butcher’s.
Other compound
prepositions At/in/on the back of – al darrere
de
He was sitting at/in the back of the room.
We
put the camera in the back of the car.
Write down
your number on the back of this card.
At/in/on the
front of – a la part
davantera
The dining
room was at the front of the house.
There was a TV in the front of the bus.
I wrote my
address on the front of the envelope.
At the top of – a dalt de
They were hiding at the top of the stairs.
At the bottom
of – al fons de
There’s a lot of crud at the bottom of my bag.
1.2.
Prepositions of time After – després
de (més tard)
We can meet after class.
After
twenty years in the country he still hadn’t learned the language.
At – a, per
Six is too early for me; can I come at seven?
He started smoking at an early age.
Note too the following expressions.
at dawn, at sunrise, at noon, at dusk/twilight, at sunset, at night, at midnight
Before – abans de
Alice
got home before ten o’clock.
A
cure may be discovered before long.
Between – entre
Where were you on Friday night between eleven
and midnight?
By – no més tard que, per
He was usually home by five.
Also: by day and by night (de dia, de nit). Example:
Some truckers like to drive by night and
others, by day.
During – durant
Note that it is not possible to use during before a quantitative term: that
is, we can say during the summer (durant l’estiu), but not during three months (durant tres setmanes). In this latter case we say for three
months.
My elder brother was born during a
thunderstorm. Services closed during the
holidays.
For – durant, des
de fa, per
They stayed
there for three
days. We’ve been here for an hour.
I’m not
leaving for an hour
I’ll
lend you my bicycle for three days.
In – en, per, a
If the time period is
greater or less than a day, English usually uses in; for the day itself, we use on
(see below).
It
was finished in a year. I’m leaving
in a year
He doesn’t do
shows in summer.
The third term
is scheduled to start in September.
The combination in +
time period can also be used to translate the CATALAN expression
d’aquí a + time period:
eg in two days = d’aquí a dos dies.
On – a
Note that in its temporal sense, the preposition on is only used for days.
I was born on June 20.
We
met on Christmas day.
Life seems
better on a sunny day.
He spent over three years writing his memoirs. He worked here over the summer.
I hope to get
a lot of work done over the Christmas holidays.
Past – després de, més tard que
It’s twenty past ten.
We
didn’t get home till past midnight.
Since – des de
We’ve been here since four-thirty.
Since
its start, over a hundred people have studied the courses.
Through – a, durant
We
meet every day, from
Monday through Friday.
Our guests will be staying through Easter.
Throughout – al llarg de
Throughout his life the doctor had always tried
to help others.
To – a, fins a
It’s already a quarter to nine.
I’ll
be home this evening from seven to nine.
We
enjoyed the whole show, from beginning to end.
Towards – pels volts de, cap a
The fog began to lift towards noon.
Towards
the end of the century, Romanticism made a come-back.
Until – fins (a)
The documents will not be available until
September.
Within – en menys de, dins de
Document archiving is to take place within 12
months.
1.3.
Prepositions of
movement About
– arreu de, per
The tourists wandered
about the town.
Across – travessant, de l’un costat a l’altre
We took a train journey across Siberia.
Along – per
The system
incorporates the routes followed by vehicles along unmapped roads.
Down – cap avall
He walked/ran/drove down the road.
In – a
He walked in the room. (AmE)
Into – a
He walked into the room.
The
water was running down the stairs and into the kitchen.
These
trends will influence investors to expand
their operations into the Indian market.
Off – de (indicating separation)
He fell off his bike.
Without
her phone, she was cut off from the rest of the world.
On – sobre, a
They loaded their
baggage on the cart. (AmE)
Onto – sobre, a
They loaded their baggage onto the trolley. (BrE)
Out of – (fora) de
He pulled the kittens out of the box.
The skydivers jumped
out of the plane too soon.
She walked/ran out of the room.
Over – per sobre (d’un costat a l’altre)
Joan leaped over the bonfire.
Past – per davant de
She walked past me
and didn’t say a word.
Through – per, a través de, per mitjà de
The card will be sent through
the post to the address
detailed here. Light passes
through the windowpanes.
To – a, en, fins a
The move to
Barcelona means the documents will not be available until September. When we got to this little town, we started trying to find a place to sleep.
I drove her to
the foot of the mountain.
Towards (also toward) – cap a
We are moving towards
bringing the two research centres under the same roof.
Under – sota, per sota de
This is an important step towards bringing the two research centres under the
same roof.
Up – cap amunt
He walked/ran/drove up the road.
1.4. Placement of prepositions
In English, prepositional
phrases generally come after the verb or its complement, if there is one. In
most cases this is the only possible position. Examples:
There is a checkbox to the left of each journal title. They are all experts in their fields.
One of the distinctive
features is how
students are helped along
the entire process.
It’s important to
remember not to put prepositional phrases between a verb and its complement, as
sometimes occurs in CATALAN. Example:
They put three apples
in the basket (not They put in the basket three
apples).
That said, there are four cases in which the prepositional
complement precedes the preposition, which is put after the verb or verb complement. In the following examples, we’ll
underline the preposition and double underline its complement.
In interrogations
Who did you go with?
What are you talking about? Where do they come from?
When accompanied by relative pronouns
The scientific journals
(that) you are interested in have
arrived. The data
(that) they work with is confidential.
His mother, who he’d looked after for years, died yesterday.
In
passive expressions
The first
10 requests made by students will not be charged for.
I don’t like getting shot at.
The judge he was brought before is very strict.
When an adjective is complemented by a clause headed by an
infinitive
My boss is very easy to work for. Your dogs are fun to play with.
This neighbourhood isn’t safe to walk in at night.
