1. at, in, on

at 一般指小地方;in 一般指大地方或某個(gè)范圍之內(nèi);on 往往表示“在某個(gè)物體的表面”。例如:

He arrived in Shanghai yesterday. 他昨天到上海。

They arrived at a small village before dark. 他們?cè)谔旌谇暗竭_(dá)一個(gè)小村莊。

There is a big hole in the wall. 墻上有個(gè)大洞。

The teacher hung a picture on the wall. 老師把一幅畫(huà)掛在墻上。

2. over, above, on

over, on 和 above 都可表示“在……上面”,但具體含義不同。Over 表示位置高于某物,在某物的正上方,其反義詞是under。above 也表示位置高于某物,但不一定在正上方,其反義詞是below。On 指兩個(gè)物體表面接觸,一個(gè)在另一的上面。例如:

There is a bridge over the river. 河上有一座橋。

We flew above the clouds. 我們飛越云層。

They put some flowers on the teacher's desk. 他們把一些花放在講桌上。

3. across, through

across 和 through 均可表示“從這一邊到另一邊”,但用法不同。Across 的含義與 on 有關(guān),表示動(dòng)作在某一物體的表面進(jìn)行。Through 的含義與 in 有關(guān),表示動(dòng)作是在三維空間進(jìn)行。例如:

The dog ran across the grass. 狗跑過(guò)草地。

The boy swam across the river. 那男孩游過(guò)河。

They walked through the forest. 他們穿過(guò)森林。

I pushed through the crowds. 我擠過(guò)人群。

4. in front of, in the front of

in front of 表示“在某人或某物的前面”,在某個(gè)范圍以外;in the front of 表示“在……的前部”,在某個(gè)范圍以內(nèi)。例如:

There are some tall trees in front of the building. 大樓前有一些高大的樹(shù)。

The teacher is sitting in the front of the classroom. 老師坐在教室前面。

5. among, between

兩者都含有“在……中間”的意思。 一般說(shuō)法是:among 用于“三者或三者以上之間”,而 between 則用于“兩者之間”。例如:

I bought three hundred eggs and there was not a single bad one among them. 我買了三百雞蛋,里面一個(gè)壞的也沒(méi)有。

What's the difference between Asian elephants and African elephants? 亞洲象與非洲象有什么不同?

不過(guò)這個(gè)定義過(guò)于簡(jiǎn)單。Oxford上對(duì)于兩者的解釋是:"Among" is used of people or things considered as a group. "Between" is used of people or things, either two in number or more than two considered individually.

1) among 除了表示多于兩者之間的關(guān)系外,更重要是它表達(dá)了“在其中”的意思。究竟是多少人或事并不重要,因?yàn)樗麄?它們已經(jīng)被視為一體。例如:

He stood among the crowd. 他站在人群中。

There is a thief among you. 你們中間有一個(gè)是小偷。

She divided the money among her three children. 她把錢(qián)分給了她的三個(gè)孩子。

2) Between 可用于“三者或三者以上之間”,指每個(gè)人或物與別的每個(gè)人或物分別發(fā)生聯(lián)系,例如:

A treaty was signed between Great Britain, France and the United States. 英國(guó)同法國(guó)、美國(guó)分別有協(xié)定。

Ecuador lies between Columbia, Peru, and the Pacific Ocean. 厄瓜多爾位于哥倫比亞、秘魯和太平洋之間。

3) Between 在表示“合作、協(xié)力”的意義時(shí),其賓語(yǔ)不受所涉及到的個(gè)體數(shù)目的限制。例如:

The three children saved over a hundred pounds between them. 三個(gè)孩子一共賺了一百多英鎊。

The three men tried to lift the box between them. 三個(gè)人一齊用力想把箱子抬起來(lái)。

Among 也有相同的用法:

They finished the work among themselves. 他們共同完成了這項(xiàng)工作。