English prepositions
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Contents |
For
The preposition "for" may have, in English, several values, as follows:
| Value | UNL | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | UNL | ||
| Aim or purpose | pur | trained for the ministry, put the house up for sale | pur(trained, ministry) |
| Destination | to | headed off for town | to(headed off, town) |
| Object of a desire, intention or perception | obj | eager for success | obj(eager, success) |
| Recipient (direction, addressee) of an action | gol | prepared lunch for us | gol(prepared, us) |
| Beneficiary of an action | ben | He did it for us | ben(did, us) |
| Duration | dur | stood in line for an hour | dur(stood, hour) |
| On behalf of, in favor of, in place of | man | spoke for all members | man(spoke, members.@for) |
| Amount, extent | man | a bill for five dollars; walked for miles; | man(bill, dollars.@for) |
| As being | man | mistook me for the librarian | man(mistook, librarian.@for) |
In
The preposition "in" may have, in English, several values, as follows:
| Value | UNL | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | UNL | ||
| complement (necessary argument) | obj | interested in Math | obj(interested, Math) |
| time (when?) | tim | work in 1973 | tim(work, 1973) |
| physical place (where?) | plc | work in Switzerland | plc(work, Switzerland) |
| logical place (in what?) | scn | work in the project | scn(work, project) |
| affected place | opl | hit in the face | opl(hit, face) |
| manner (how) | man | split in two | man(split, 2.@in) |
| attribute (which) | mod | a man in overcoat | mod(man, overcoat.@in) |
| final state (= into) | gol | throw in the basket | gol(throw, basket) |
Attribute @in
The attribute @in is the default for the relations "tim", "plc" and "scn" and may be omitted in these cases. It may also be omitted in "obj" relations, whose government is stated in the dictionary. For the other relations, its use is mandatory:
- work in Switzerland = plc(work, Switzerland) = plc(work, Switzerland.@in)
- work in 1973 = tim(work, 1973) = tim(work, 1973.@in)
- split in two = man(split, 2.@in) ≠ man(split,2) = split as two
- man in overcoat = mod(man, overcoat.@in) ≠ mod(man, overcoat) = man of overcoat
