CLASSES OF PREPOSITIONS.
312. It would be useless to
attempt to classify all the prepositions, since they are so various in
meaning.
The largest groups are those of place, time,
and exclusion.
PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE.
313. The following are the
most common to indicate place:—
(1) PLACE WHERE: abaft, about, above,
across, amid (amidst), among (amongst),
at, athwart, below,
beneath, beside, between (betwixt), beyond,
in, on, over, under (underneath),
upon, round or around, without.
(2) PLACE WHITHER: into, unto, up,
through, throughout, to, towards.
(3) PLACE WHENCE: down, from (away
from, down from, from out, etc.), off, out
of.
Abaft is exclusively a sea term, meaning back
of.
Among (or amongst) and between (or
betwixt) have a difference in meaning, and usually a difference in use.
Among originally meant in the crowd (on gemong), referring to
several objects; between and betwixt were originally made up of
the preposition be (meaning by) and twēon or
twēonum (modern twain), by two, and be with
twīh (or twuh), having the same meaning, by two
objects.
As to modern use, see "Syntax" (Sec. 459).
PREPOSITIONS OF TIME.
314. They are after,
during, pending, till or until; also many of the
prepositions of place express time when put before words indicating
time, such as at, between, by, about, on,
within, etc. |
