ABSTRACT
Prepositions are a kind of function word. The function of a preposition is to introduce an argument. A prepositional phrase generally precedes the main verb. The argument introduced by a multifunctional preposition determines the semantic role of the prepositional phrase. In a sentence, a prepositional phrase can modify the verb or the whole sentence, specifying the time, the place, the tool, and so forth. The prepositional phrases in are all modifiers. A prepositional phrase can also introduce the obligatory argument of a verb. Because most prepositions in modern Chinese stem from verbs, some of them retain verbal sense. Prepositions form a closed class.
