Preposition

Running head: prepositions

English and Vietnamese Prepositions: A Contrastive Analysis

Nguyen Thi Yen Nhung

University of Pedagogy

Contrastive analysis

Lecturer: Mr Nguyen Ngoc Vu

HCM December 26th 2010

Abstract

Prepositions are words used to connect nouns or noun structures to other structures in a sentence. They exist in both English and Vietnamese language systems. However, prepositions have different characteristics and usage in each language. The use of prepositions may cause lots of trouble for Vietnamese people when learning English and vice versa. Therefore, this paper aims at analyzing English and Vietnamese prepositions in a contrastive view, especially in showing direction and location so that leaners can find it easier to learn them. This paper also supplies some implications for teaching prepositions which can be useful for those who teaching English or Vietnamese. Through these implications, I hope that they can help teachers know how to help students use prepositions correctly and appropriately.

Literature Review

Prepositions in English

Definition

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, a preposition “is a word or group of words used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or method”. Another definition is that a preposition “may be defined as connecting word showing the relation of a noun or a noun substitute to some other words in the sentence (the squirrel in the tree; the preposition in shows the relationship between the squirrel and the tree.)” (“Prepositions: definition and usage”, n.d). From these definitions, we can come to a conclusion about the function of a preposition which is it is used to connect nouns and noun structures with other structures in a sentence. Prepositions that we often use in everyday life are: with, at, by, to, in, for, from, of, on. It is estimated that these...