Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher , we answer a question from Kelvin in Ghana about the usage of prepositions in English.
你好！本周，在“请教老师”节目中，我们回答了来自加纳的 Kelvin 提出的有关英语介词用法的问题。
Dear teacher,
亲爱的老师，
Please, I would like to know more about prepositions.
拜托，我想了解更多关于介词的知识。
Prepositions are those small words that give additional information about nouns, such as direction, time, location, and possession.
介词是那些提供名词附加信息的小词，例如方向、时间、地点和属性。
We can put prepositions into two large groups. In the first group, prepositions tell us about direction, location, time, and relations between people or things. These details are what people first learn when they study prepositions in English. Just a few examples of location and time include:
我们可以将介词分为两大组。在第一组中，介词告诉我们方向、地点、时间以及人或物之间的关系。这些细节是人们在学习英语介词时首先学到的。位置和时间的一些示例包括：
on the table.
在桌子上。
under the table.
在桌子下面。
by nine in the morning.
早上九点。
Some examples that show relations between people include:
显示人与人之间关系的一些例子包括：
A friend of mine.
我的一个朋友。
I worked with him.
我和他一起工作。
I did it for you.
我是为你做的。
Prepositions in common expressions
常用表达方式中的介词
The second large group includes common expressions where the preposition sometimes has a less exact meaning. That is why knowing which preposition to use with these expressions becomes more difficult.
第二大组包括常见的表达方式，其中介词有时具有不太精确的含义。这就是为什么知道这些表达方式使用哪个介词变得更加困难。
Consider the following two examples. The first is used in British English, the second in American English:
考虑以下两个例子。第一个用于英式英语，第二个用于美式英语：
This house is different to the one I used to live in.
这所房子和我以前住的房子不一样。
This house is different from the one I used to live in.
这所房子和我以前住的房子不一样。
The two examples mean the same thing. And there is no clear reason why we should use one preposition instead of the other.
这两个例子的意思是一样的。并且没有明确的理由说明为什么我们应该使用一个介词而不是另一个。
Here is another expression where we use one preposition instead of another. We often say:
这是另一种表达方式，我们使用一个介词而不是另一个介词。我们常说：
The news took me by surprise.
这个消息让我大吃一惊。
But we never say:
但我们从不说：
The news took me with surprise.
这个消息让我大吃一惊。
However, notice that changing the preposition “by” to the preposition “with” does not appear to change the meaning of this expression.
但是，请注意，将介词“by”更改为介词“with”似乎不会改变该表达式的含义。
To someone learning English, one preposition might seem as good a choice as any other for this expression. That is why it is easy to make mistakes and sometimes difficult to remember the correct preposition to use.
对于学习英语的人来说，对于这个表达方式，一个介词似乎与任何其他介词一样好。这就是为什么很容易犯错误，有时也很难记住要使用的正确介词。
So, how can you remember what preposition to use with such expressions?
那么，你如何记住这些表达方式使用什么介词呢？
Do not try to learn the expression separately from the preposition, and then go back and put the preposition in your memory. Instead, try to hear and remember the entire expression as one phrase instead of several words. Just as we put numbers into groups of three or four to remember phone numbers, try to think of an expression and its preposition together as one group.
不要试图将表达方式与介词分开学习，然后再回去将介词记入你的记忆中。相反，尝试听并记住整个表达方式为一个短语而不是几个单词。正如我们将数字分成三或四个一组来记住电话号码一样，尝试将一个表达式及其介词视为一组。