UNIT 16: Prepositions II (giới từ)

Topic 13: In and around a house (trong và xung quanh một ngôi nhà)

I. Grammar

1. Talking about different positions (nói về các vị trí khác nhau)

a) In front of (trước), behind (bên cạnh), opposite (đối lập), after/past (sau), before (trước), on top of (trên, nằm trên)

• Examples:
• He is standing in front of the entrance.
• He is standing behind the door.
• The bed is opposite to the wardrobe.
• Past/after the red bowl, there is a blue bowl.
• Before the blue bowl, there is a red bowl.
• We will climb on the top of the roof.

b) Next to, beside, by (bên cạnh), close / near to (gần với): on the left or right of somebody or something (bên trái hoặc bên phải ai đó hoặc vật gì)

• Examples:
• Jane is standing next to/beside/by the window.
• I am close / near to the coach.

2.  “Above” (trên) and “below” (dưới); “over” (qua, trên) and “under” (dưới)

a) “Over” and “under”

• under: on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else (trên mặt đất, thấp hơn hoặc được bao phủ bởi thứ gì khác): under the table, under the bed....
• over: in a higher position than sth./sb.else (cao hơn thứ gì khác)
•  Examples:
• The cat is under the stairs.
• The birds are flying over the garden.

b) “Below” and “above”

• below: lower than something else but above ground (thấp hơn thứ khác nhưng ở trên mặt đất): below the floor, below a surface ...
• above: higher than something else, but not directly over it (cao hơn thứ khác nhưng không ở ngay bên trên): above the sky, above the lamp ...
• Examples:
• The picture is above the mirror.
• The mirror is below the picture.

c)         “Over” and “above”: (nhiều hơn)

• "over” for number-, age- or time statements and for movements to the other side. (dùng “over” cho các số, tuổi, hoặc thời gian và cho sự di chuyển từ bên này sang bên kia)
• Examples:
• He is over 16 years old.
• Over 50 percent of the students are very good.
• John works over 8 hours every day.
• I am walking over the bridge.

• "above” for measurements (dùng “over” cho việc đo lường)
• Examples:
• It’s very cold today, Only 3 degrees above zero.
• He jumped some centimetres above the line.

3.         “Inside” (bên trong) and “outside” (bên ngoài)

a)         Inside: In an enclosed space (trong một không gian đóng)

• Examples:
• I’m inside my room.
• Tom is inside the school building.

b)         Outside: Not in an enclosed space (trong một không gian mở)

• Examples:
• I like to do sports outside.
• Are you outside of the bathroom?

4.         “Between” (giữa), “within” (trong số) and “among” (trong số)

a)         “Between” and “within”

• Between: To mark a period of time (đánh dấu một quãng thời gian): between 7 and 8 o’clock, between sunset and sunrise…
• Examples:
• Between 6 and 10 o’clock we had no electricity.
• I am free between Friday and Monday.
• Within: To talk about a “duration of time” (nói về một khoảng thời gian): Within 1 hour, within 5 days ...
• Examples:
• You have to write your essay within 1 day.
• Susan can knit a whole scarf within 3 hours.

b)         “Between” and “among”

To talk about a relationship (nói về mối quan hệ)

• Between: Used 2 people / things.
• Examples:
• What happened between him and you?
• How many chopsticks are between the cups and the glasses?
• Among: Used for more than 2 people / things (dùng cho hai người trở nên)
• Examples:
• Is there any conflict among these students in her class?
• He is sitting among his friends.

5.         "Along” (dọc theo) and "around / round” (quanh, khoảng)

a)         Along: In a line.

• Examples:
• They walk along the beach.
• Along this street, there are a lot of traffic lights.

b)         Around / round: In a circle (trong một vòng tròn)

• Examples:  We are sitting around / round the fire.

6.         “Before” (trước) and “after” (sau)

a)         Before

• Examples:
• She arrives home before lunch.
• She’s going to leave before I come.
• I can do this before 2 am this morning.

b)         After

• Examples:
• After school, I’m always tired.
• I always do my exercises after 8pm.

II. TOPIC 13: In and around a house

1. Read the story and answer the questions.

Sarah’s house and her best friend Jane.

Sarah: "Hello my friend, this is my house in the countryside. Before we go inside, let’s have a look on the outside. Past my house you can see a rice paddy and opposite to my house a park. On the top of our roof there are always butterflies and you can see the birds flying over our house. Open the gate and come inside! Behind the fence there is the front yard and after there’s our small garden. Along the garden we have many flowers. My home is very beautiful.”

Jane: "Yes, you are right. It is very beautiful here Sarah.”

Sarah: "Open the front door (entrance) of my house and take a look inside. Downstairs we have 2 rooms. Our living room is very large. On the wall there are pictures of me and my family, in front of the windows colourful curtains, and on the ceiling there’s a bright lamp. The couch is comfortable and under it we have a thick carpet on the floor. Near to the coach we have a table, made of wood, with 6 chairs around it.  Oh good, on the table there are some tea cups and glasses and by the table there are some bottles and a teakettle full of hot water. Perfect, let’s sit down and have some tea together.”

Jane: "Thank you Sarah. It’s nice to be within all my friends, but among all of them, I like you the most. Between you and me everything is always ok. There are no problems below the surface of our friendship because we can speak about everything.”

Sarah: "Yes, it’s true. We can share all the things in our lives with each other and it’s so funny to spend time with you. That’s why you are my best friend.”

Jane: "I’m exited about the concert tonight. It will be great for sure.”

Sarah: "So am I. But first it’s time to cook dinner. Let’s change into the kitchen. Here we have a  fridge with a freezer beside the oven and the stove for cooking, and close to the fridge, above the sink, there is a little cupboard for pans, pots, bowls and plates with drawers for all the chopsticks, spoons, knives.... There is also a dustbin. We don’t have a mixer or microwave in our kitchen.

Ah, would you like to see the first floor also?”

Jane: "Yes, why not?”

Sarah: "So, let’s go upstairs. Here we have the bedroom with our soft bed opposite to a wardrobe and a desk for working below my bookcase. I love reading. Next to the bedroom there’s the bathroom, with the shower beside the toilet, a mirror on the wall above the sink and behind the door, we have a washing machine. But it does not work at the moment and our tab is broken too... and oh, now I see we have no toilet paper anymore.”

Jane:"No problem, after our dinner we can buy it before we’re going to the concert.”

Questions:

a) Where is Sarah’s house?

b) What is past her house?

c) What is opposite to her house?

d) What animals are on the top of her house?

e) What is behind the fence?

f) How many rooms does she have downstairs?

g) What does she have in front of the windows?

h) What is the table made of?

i) What is by the table?

k) Between Sarah and Jane everything is...?

l) What does Sarah have in her kitchen and where?

m) Where is the bed?

n) Why does Sarah have a bookcase?

o)What is the problem in the bathroom?

p) Where do they go after their dinner?