UNIT 17

THE EXPRESION OF PLACE, DIRECTION AND DISTANCE

0. INTRODUCTION
1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Linguistic levels involved in the notion of spatial reference
1.2. Definition of spatial reference: what and how
2. THE EXPRESSION OF SPATIAL REFERENCE
2.1. Main Features of Prepositions
2.2. Spatial reference in terms of other general categories
2.3. Spatial reference at a sentence level
2.4. The Semantic Function
3. EXPRESSION OF PLACE
3.1. Expression of positive position and destination: at, to, on, onto, in,
into.
3.2. Expression of negative position: away from, off, out of.
3.3. Relative position: over, under, etc.
3.4. Space: by, beside, with, near (to), close to, opposite.
3.5. Space: between, among, amongst, amid, amidst.
3.6. Space: around, round, about.
3.7. Relative destination: over, under, behind, etc.
3.8. Passage: over, under, behind, etc.
3.9. Passage: across, through, past.
4. EXPRESSION OF DIRECTION
4.1. Movement with reference to a directional path: up, down, along,
across, etc.
4.2. Orientation: beyond, over, past, up, across, etc.
4.3. Resultative meaning: from, out of, over, past, etc.
4.4. Pervasive meaning: over, throughout, with, etc.
5.EXPRESSION OF DISTANCE
6. CONCLUSION
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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0. INTRODUCTION

Here, the expression of place, direction and distance will be the focal point of our study.
Generally speaking, these three categories are expressed by means of prepositions,
therefore, this form word will play a leading role in our analysis.
A notable figure of the English language is the extremely wide lexicogrammatical use it
makes of prepositions. In the most general terms, a preposition expresses a relation
between two entities, one being that represented by the prepositional complement, related
to something else in the proposition. Of the various types of relational meaning, those of
PLACE and TIME are the most prominent and easy to identify, as well as those of
INSTRUMENT and CAUSE.
The expression of place and direction are chiefly adverbials and postmodifiers. They answer
the questions “Where?”, so that all of the following could be answers to the question Where
did you leave the bicycle?
over there. (ADVERB)
I left it in the river. (PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE)
two miles away. (NOUN PHRASE + away, back ...)
where I found it. (ADVERBIAL CLAUSE)

Place expressions can also on occasion act as a subject or complement of a sentence (Over
here is where I put the books), but this is rather informal. A range of grammatical structures
and functions for expressing place is similar to that for expressing time. It is important to
note that some forms have related meaning in the two fields (the prepositions at, from and
between).
In this paper, we will try to offer a description of the use and meaning of the different
resources of the English language to express spatial relationships. First, we shall provide a
general framework to this notion. Then, the expression of spatial reference will comprise
our second part. Finally, the expression of place, direction and distance will be explained in
turn.
All of this will be done under the scope of relevant works such as Quirk and Greenbaum's A
University Grammar of English (1973), which provides a thorough analysis of the English
grammar, and Leech and Svartvik's A Communicative Grammar of English (1975).

1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This theoretical framework aims at answering questions such as where this notion is to be
found within the linguistic level, what it describes and how and which grammar categories
are involved in its description at a functional level.

1.1. Linguistic levels involved in the notion of spatial reference

On the one hand, phonology deals with pronunciation of prepositions (i.e. out, onto,
forward, through, behind, etc.) and helps to distinguish prepositions from adverbs since
prepositions, normally unstressed, are accented when they are prepositional adverbs (i.e.
He 'stayed in the 'house vs. He 'stayed 'in); morphology deals with compound words (i.e.
into, onto, etc.); and syntax deals with which combinations of words constitute grammatical
strings and which do not (i.e. NOT: she goes at school in bike BUT she goes to school by bike).

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On the other hand, lexis deals with the expression of spatial reference regarding the choice
between prepositional phrases or adverbial phrases (i.e. He works here vs. He drives in this
bank), lexical choices regarding different types of prepositions (i.e. on vs. above; opposite vs.
in front of), the use of specific prepositions (i.e. upwards, onto, inside), and other means
such as other formal realizations of these notions (i.e. a noun phrase, a verbless clause, a
finite clause); and finally, semantics deals with meaning where syntactic and morphological
levels do not tell the difference (i.e. 'He left the keys on the table = on the surface and not
inside a drawer).

1.2. Definition of spatial reference: what and how

'Spatial reference' should be linked (what they are) to the grammar categories which
express it (how it is showed). Actually, the term 'spatial reference' is intended to add
information about 'where' a situation has happened, by providing details about 'place',
'direction' and 'distance' in order to fully describe the action.
This function is mainly carried out by prepositions, but also by other grammatical categories
which function as complements in prepositional phrases, such as adverbs or adverbial
phrases (i.e. over here, over there), noun phrases (i.e. three kilometers away) and other
clause structures like idiomatic expressions (i.e. so far, as far as I am concerned, in my view,
etc.).
Following Traditional Grammar guidelines, prepositions are classified according to their main
semantic roles: space (position, direction, passage), time (position, duration), cause and
purpose, means and stimulus, accompaniment, concession, and other relations, from which
we shall mainly deal with those referring to spatial reference. Moreover, these notions are
also classified according to their morphological and syntactic function which is mainly
predicative.

2. THE EXPRESSION OF SPATIAL REFERENCE

Next, the expression of spatial reference will be examined through the category of
prepositions. But this is not always so since other categories may be involved as possible
answers to the question of Where...? Moreover, it must be noted that, although
prepositions are mainly classified following morphological and syntactic rules, our study will
be primarily based on the semantic field, since it is here where we find the notion of
prepositions of place, and therefore, it will lead us to the analysis of spatial reference in
terms of position, direction and distance.

2.1. Main Features of Prepositions

Following Greenbaum & Quirk (1990), prepositions belong to the closed class items which
first, are formally invariable and second, connect two units in a sentence, specifying a
relationship between them (i.e. place, time, instrument, cause, etc.). The former of these
two units is often a noun, adjective or verb, and the former, normally represented by a
prepositional complement, is a noun or any other phrase similar to it, such as pronouns
(This is a present for him), nominalized adjectives (He fought against the most intelligent),
nominalized adverbs (We observed him from here), infinitives (He ran to win), and noun
phrases (A man in the front row).

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According to Huddleston (1988), at the general level the preposition is one type of
adposition. The adposition may be defined as a grammatically distinct closed class of words
with the following properties:
(1) First, they include, among the most central members of the class, words
expressing such spatial relations as 'at', 'in', 'on', 'under', 'over', 'to', 'from', etc. Very
often they also include words serving to show the semantic role or grammatical
function in the clause of their noun phrase complement; for instance, in English 'by'
marks the agent phrase in passive clauses (i.e. He was arrested by the police); and 'to'
marks the recipient role with such verbs as give, send, talk, listen, etc. (i.e. Listen to
me).
(2) Second, they usually show no inflectional marks. This helps differentiate
prepositions from verbs, adjectives and nouns, which prototypically do inflect.
However, prepositions allow only a modest amount of modification by expressions of
temporal or spatial extent, as in ' three hours after the start', 'far below the surface'.
Also, degree modification with ' very much' (not very alone) tends to occur with
metaphorical rather than literal meanings of prepositions, as in ' You are very much
against the idea'.
(3) Third, the second unit in a prepositional structure, which is a prepositional
complement, may be linked to a verb (i.e. He is drinking out of a dirty glass), to an
adjective phrase (i.e. He is afraid of spiders), and to a noun phrase (i.e. The man in
blue jeans is looking at you). In these cases, prepositional phrases will function as
adverbials, that is, adjuncts (In a few minutes, we'll know the results/ We'll know the
results in a few minutes).
(4) They take a noun phrase complement, realized by pronouns (This is a present for
him), nominalized adjectives (He fought against the most intelligent), nominalized
adverbs (We observed him from here), infinitives (He ran to win), and noun phrases
(A man in the front row).

2.2. Spatial reference in terms of other grammatical categories

Prepositions denoting spatial reference may be represented by means of other categories
within a larger linguistic structure in order to modify verbs, adjectives and nouns. For
instance, the answer to “Where is the book?” may be mainly drawn from the closed
category of adverbs and adverbial phrases (i.e. As adjunct: On the shelf would be the best
place; or disjunct: From my point of view, it would be placed on the shelf) or linked as
complement to other closed categories, such as verbs (i.e. I put it in the box), prepositional
verbs (verb + preposition), as in account for, looking for, and so on; adjectives (i.e. It is ready
for recycling it) or other grammatical structures, such as infinitives (i.e. Andrew took it to
read it).
We must bear in mind that prepositions function as head in a prepositional phrase
structure, and that prepositional phrases in turn have a variety of functions related to other
grammatical categories, for instance, within the structure of a verbal phrase, noun phrase,
adjectival phrase, adverbial phrase, a larger prepositional phrase, or at sentence level,
functioning as a connector (disjuncts: however, although, because, due to, etc.).
This is not to say that all prepositions are found in all of these functions, far from it, but
virtually all can occur as head in phrases functioning as adjuncts, that is, modifiers in verbal
phrases (i.e. in the morning) or peripheral dependent in a sentence (i.e. In my view, you are
right). In this respect, they are like adverbs but they differ most sharply from adverbs in
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their complementation and in the fact that many of them do also occur in other
constructions. Other grammatical categories that realize the expression of spatial reference
include:
(1) Another major category which can function as a prepositional phrase is an adverb
or an adverbial phrase, which belong to the closed-class category, and which behaves like a
preposition with elliptic complement. Note 'A car drove past the door' where 'past' is a
preposition vs. 'A car drove past where 'past' is a prepositional adverb.
Moreover, an adverbial phrase may also function as adjunct or modifier, as in 'Despite the
fine weather, we stayed in all day' (place adjunct) or postmodifier or connector, as in 'The
day before , I had seen him in the town centre' (time adjunct). Note that three prepositions
not found in the adjunct construction are 'than', 'except' and 'but', while 'of' although overall
the most frequent preposition, is here more or less restricted to idiomatic expressions like of
course, of his own free will, and so on.
Many words can be used as either prepositions or adverbs. Compare: 'He got off the bus at
the corner' (preposition) vs. 'He got off at the corner' (adverb). The most important words of
this type are above, about, across, along, before, behind, below, besides, by, down, in, near,
off, on, over, past, round, since, through, under, up. Most of them refer to spatial positions:
'Peter is behind us' (preposition) vs. 'He's a long way behind' (adverb).
It is worth mentioning at this point the contrast phrasal verbs (verb + adverb) vs.
prepositional verbs (verb + preposition). They differ from phrasal verbs in that, as a rule, the
adverb in phrasal verbs (call up) is stressed (i.e. They have called 'up all applicants for an
interview) whereas in prepositional verbs the stress falls on the verb, the preposition being
unstressed (i.e. Just 'look at him/It is better not to 'call on him).
Another variant regarding phrasal verbs is that of phrasal-prepositional verbs, which are
combinations of a verb + an adverb + a preposition. However, the majority of them are
nontransitive verbs (i.e. I am afraid I do not feel up to the job; We do not get on well with
our neighbours; Do you go in for squash?).

(2) Another kind of syntactic structure involves clause subordination, where we find
different types regarding verbs. Thus (a) the more nuclear dependents of the verb, subject
in clause structure and complement in verbal structure, which are filled by noun phrases
(i.e. in the street, after two hours); (b) prepositional phrases are mainly either of place (i.e.
at home ), direction (i.e. to school) or time (i.e. at night).
We also distinguish (c) complements to prepositional verbs, where the verb selects from a
handful of short prepositions (i.e. ask for, consist of, depend on, hope for). In this type, the
constituent that follows the verb function as direct object (long for, refer to, rely on, succeed
in).
Moreover, we find (d) non-finite verb clauses (or infinitival clauses) which function as
modifier of the verbal phrase, and in which the verb is an infinitive, as in ' I was surprised to
hear her opinion', or a present participle -ing, as in 'I was surprised at her saying this'.
Furthermore, (e) we may find the finite content clause as modifier of an adjectival phrase, as
in 'I was so surprised that I couldn't say anything'. Also, we may find (f) a noun phrase (i.e. I
was surprised at the financial estimates') or (g) a wh- phrase (i.e. I was surprised at what she
said). But, (h) we also find place conjuncts, which denote static position and also direction,
movement, and passage under the general term ' direction'. Place adjuncts are mainly
realized by means of prepositional phrases (i.e. in the park, out of my house, etc.) since
these roles can be clearly and conveniently specified through the respective
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prepositional meaning (i.e. in-out, from-to, up-down, through, onto, etc.), although
sometimes we need noun phrases to amplify meaning (i.e. a very long way, several miles
away).
Most placed adjuncts are prepositional phrases (i.e. in a small village, a long way from here,
past the sentry, wherever he went, from the desk, etc.) which evoke responses to a 'where'
question, such as to position (where?), direction (where?), source (where from?), and
distance (how far?) with stative or dynamic verbs. For instance, position and distance use
stative verbs (live, stay), whereas direction and source use dynamic verbs (go to, come
from).
And finally, (i) we must not forget that idioms constitute that 'free process of forming lexical
lexemes' which permit grammatical contrasts (i.e. What about...?/It's up to you/It's over/Eat
it up/etc.).
All these items have the same function but belong to different grammatical categories or
class (i.e. noun, adjective, finite clause...). We may observe that although such subordinate
clauses have broadly the same function as adverbs, we do not normally find anything like
the close semantic equivalence to adverbs illustrated above for prepositional phrases.
Then, once we have seen how both function and word class are relevant for our present
purposes, we are ready to examine the expression of spatial reference, and especially,
position, direction and distance through them. These expressions can be grouped together
into word classes (also called parts of speech) following morphological, syntactic, and
semantic rules, bearing in mind the phonological one when pronouncing prepositions or
other periphrastic expressions (i.e. in the air).

2.3. Spatial reference at sentence level

Similar to Spanish ones, it is worth pointing out that it is not sensible to establish strict rules
regarding spatial reference position since it may be submitted to changes under the
influence of emphasis, question structures, and old/new information. Yet, we may
distinguish two different types of considerations: (1) general and (2) particular cases.

2.3.1. General considerations

The placing of prepositions may vary depending on specific syntactic and semantic
guidelines but generally, word order is normally determined by the syntactic function, that
is, depending on the grammatical element it complements. Thus, on completing a verb, it is
placed after it (i.e. they worked in the field all day); on complementing an adjective/adverb,
it is placed after (i.e. worried about you); and finally, on complementing a sentence by
means of an adverbial/prepositional phrase, it has final position (i.e. They will go to Murcia
tomorrow).
Thus, in English spatial reference is said to have a fixed position within the sentence
structure (i.e. He came here when she left home; David is at school), usually in predicative
positions, middle or final. In fact, prepositions are normally placed before their
complements (i.e. in the air, on the beach, for you) and the most common position is the
final one, that is, at the end of the sentence, as in 'Love is in the air, let's go to the beach, I
have a present for you)
Moreover, final position is restricted to certain grammatical categories, such as adverbial
and prepositional phrases, and semantically, with non-essential information since emphasis
places prepositions in initial position (i.e. At home there is someone waiting for you). In
addition, note that there can be more than one prepositional or adverbial phrase in end
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position (He turned up at the door entrance (place) in a wet T-shirt (manner) last night
(time)).
Furthermore, when there is a close link in meaning between a verb and a preposition, the
preposition goes next to the verb, especially with verbs of movement (i.e. come, go, move,
jump, turn, etc.), as in ' My children go to school every day). It is worth noting that a phrase
of place comes before time (i.e. She came here (place) last night (time)). But often two
adverbial phrases can go in either order (i.e. The concert was held at the stadium two weeks
ago or two weeks ago at the stadium).

2.3.2. Particular cases

When dealing with particular cases, we mainly deal with prepositions in initial or final
position due to specific syntactic changes at the sentence level. Thus, we shall distinguish
three main cases:
(1) First of all, prepositions can go in front position in WH- questions and
exclamations, where WH-interrogative pronouns function as constituents
(prepositional complements) of sentences (i.e. Where are you travelling to?) or
exclamatory (i.e. What a beautiful place you are travelling to!). Note that questions
beginning with a preposition + where/what/etc. are used to be thought
ungrammatical but it is now accepted as a colloquial form. Compare 'To whom are
you talking?' (formal) vs. 'Who are you talking to?' (informal).
(2) Secondly, in relative clauses, where the preposition placed before which/whom
(i.e. the friend with which I travelled to Ireland) can be moved to the end of the
sentence. In these cases, the relative pronoun is often omitted (i.e. The friend I
travelled with). Note that in the former case, it is considered to be formal style
whereas in the latter, it is rather informal.
(3) Finally, where the prepositional complement is thematized in finite clauses that
is, functioning respectively as postmodifier of noun, pronoun, or adjective phrases.
Thus, on finite clauses with noun phrases: 'It was a very nice house to live in'; with
pronouns: 'There is nowhere to go to '; and finally, with adjective phrases: 'Cristine is
impossible to talk to'.

2.4. The semantic function

Semantically speaking, there are various types of relational meanings among which place
and time (here and now) are said to be the most prominent ones and easy to identify. Other
relationships such as those of instrument (with paper and ink) and cause (by the fact that)
are also easy to recognize but it is not so easy to describe their prepositional meanings.
The term 'spatial reference' may provide details about ' position' , 'direction' and ' distance'
by addressing a wide range of prepositions with reference to points in space (i.e. in, on, at,
etc.), lines of passage (i.e. across, over, along, etc.), surface (i.e. on, through, onto, etc.), area
(i.e. inside, outside, in, out, etc.), volume (i.e. through, under, behind, etc.), direction (i.e. to,
from, towards, etc.), movement (i.e. through, past, across, etc.), among others.
Most of these details about an action are either spatial or figuratively derived from notions
of physical space, which often overlap different semantic ideas (i.e. at home/at five o'clock).
Thus, the preposition 'in' may have different meanings depending on the context: ' in this
room' (place) vs. 'in the present month (time). Also, compare 'in danger' (adverbial) vs. 'in all
seriousness' (manner).

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Moreover, we also find idiomatic expressions, such as ' I ran across him today; over and over
again; to put up with something; they're about to go; time is up' and so on.

3. EXPRESSION OF PLACE

The choice of preposition depends on the way we see an object. We can distinguish three
types of prepositions depending on the dimensional properties of the location concerned:
A) Dimension-type 0: The preposition signals a dimensionless location, a mere
POINT in relation to which the position of an element can be indicated. Consider AT
in the example:
My bike is at the car park.
B) Dimension-type 1 or 2: Consider the example:
My house is on that road
In this sentence the road is viewed as a LINE ("along that road"), i.e. dimension-type
1. But the preposition "on" can also be used to denote an AREA as in:
There is a new roof on the house.
Here the house is viewed as a two-dimensional area, i.e. as SURFACES, this is
dimension-type 2.
C) Dimension-type 2 or 3: It denotes AREA or SURFACE. This kind of dimension is
expressed by "in" or "out of . See:
There are only two beds in the house.
Here, the house is considered as a three-dimensional object which in reality it is. This
is dimension-type 3. "In" is also capable of being used with objects that are
essentially two-dimensional, as in:
The dogs are in the garden.
Here garden is conceived of as an enclosed space.

a. EXPRESSION OF POSITIVE POSITION AND DESTINATION: AT, ON, TO, ONTO, IN, INTO.
To express positive position and destination, prepositional phrases take the form of adjuncts
(relating an event to a location) or postmodifiers (relating some object to a location).

A prepositional phrase of position can accompany most verbs, although this meaning is
associated with verbs of stative meaning: to be, to stand, etc. The meaning of destination
normally accompanies a verb of dynamic "motional" meaning, such as to go, to move, to
fly…
In many cases (especially in colloquial English), "on" and "in" may be used for both position
and destination:

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 She fell on the floor.
She put his hands in his pockets.
Here we offer some more examples of prepositional phrases of position and destination
depending on the dimension-type they refer to:

A) Dimension-type 0:
At the bus stop
At the South Pole
At the end of the street
B) Dimension-type 1 and 2:
LINE
The city is situated on the River Rhin.
The city is situated on the boundary.
The city is situated on the coast.
SURFACE
A notice was pasted on the wall.
A notice was pasted on the ceiling.
A notice was pasted on my back.
C) Dimension-type 2 and 3:
AREA
In the world
In the village
VOLUME
In a box
In the bathroom
In the cathedral

"In" is used for sizeable territories such as:

• Continents, countries: in Asia, in China.
• Provinces, counties: in Cheshire.
• City districts: in Brooklin.

There are some differences between "in" and "at":

She's at Oxford (she's a student at Oxford University).
She's in Oxford (she's staying in the city of Oxford).
With buildings, both "at" and "in" can be used. The difference here is that "at" refers to a
building in its institutional or functional aspect, whereas "in" refers to it as a three-
dimensional structure:
Ann works at / in a publishing house.
With "school", we can find the following three constructions: Mark
is at school (enrolled in, location)
Mark is in school (location)
Mark is in school (within the building)
Another preposition to indicate place is "to". "To" denotes completive movement in the
direction of a place, as in:
The Corrs drove to Edimburgh.
"As far as" stresses the length of the journey (space only, not time):
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 They drove as far as Edimburgh.

b. EXPRESSION OF NEGATIVE POSITION: AWAY FROM, OFF, OUT OF

The negative prepositions away from, off, and out of may be defined simply by adding the
word "not" to the corresponding positive preposition: away from ("not at"), off ("not on"),
out of ("not in").
Ann drove (away) from home. (Ann is away from home).
There is a cause-and-effect relation with negative destination and position parallel to that of
positive destination and position: The book fell off the shelf. (The book is off the shelf).

c. RELATIVE POSITION: OVER, UNDER...

Apart from simple position, prepositions may express the RELATIVE POSITION of two objects
or groups of objects. Above, over, on top of, under, underneath, beneath, and below
express relative position vertically, whereas in front of, before, behind, and after represent
it horizontally.

Over and under as place prepositions are roughly synonymous with above and below,
respectively. The main differences are that over and under tend to indicate a direct vertical
relationship or spatial proximity, while above and below may indicate simply "on a
higher/lower lever than":
The Castle stands on a hill above/'?over the valley.
Keep this blanket over/*above you.
Underneath and beneath <formal> are less common substitutes for under. Underneath, like
on top of, generally indicates a contiguous relation:
The police found the stolen money under/underneath the carpet.
We placed the skis on top of the car.

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d. SPACE: BY, BESIDE, WITH, NEAR (TO), CLOSE TO, OPPOSITE.
Other prepositions denoting space are by, beside, and with:
He was standing by/beside the door. (At the side of). I
left the keys with my wallet. (In the same place as).
Beside is usually a locative and besides a non-locative preposition:
Beside Mary there stood a young man (At the side of)
Besides Mary there were several other students in the hall (In addition to)
As a locative preposition near meaning close to can be replaced by the complex preposition
near to:
She was sitting near (to) me.
She was sitting close (to) me.
Near (to) and close (to) are the only prepositions which inflect for comparison. Unlike the
absolute form, nearer and nearest usually require to. Next always does so:
She was sitting nearer(to)/nearest(to)/next to me.
She was sitting closer to/closest to me.
Opposite means "facing" and has optional to:
Her house is opposite to mine.

e. SPACE: BETWEEN, AMONG, AMONGST, AMID, AMIDST.

Between relates the position of an object to a definite or exclusive set of discrete objects,
whereas among relates to non-discrete objects. Thus:
The house stands between two farms.
The house stands among farms.
Switzerland lies between France, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Switzerland lies *among France, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Amid and amidst (which are both formal) mean "in the midst of and, like among, can apply
to an indefinite number of entities:
The deserted house stood amid snow-covered fir trees.

f. SPACE: AROUND, ROUND, ABOUT

Around and round refer to surrounding position or to motion:
We were sitting (a)round the campfire.
The spaceship is travelling around the globe.
About and around often express a vaguer meaning:
The guests were standing about/around the room.
There are very few taxis about/around her.

g. RELATIVE DESTINATION: OVER, UNDER, BEHIND, etc.

As well as relative position, they can also express relative destination:
He threw a blanket over her.
The bush was the only conceivable hiding place, so I dashed behind it.
When it started to rain, we all went underneath the trees.

h. PASSAGE: OVER, UNDER, BEHIND, etc.

With verbs of motion, prepositions may express the idea of PASSAGE, as well as destination:
He jumped over a ditch.
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 Someone ran behind the goalposts.
The ball rolled underneath the table

i. PASSAGE: ACROSS, THROUGH, PAST.

The sense of "passage" is the primary locative meaning attached to across, through and
past.

4. EXPRESSION OF DIRECTION

Some prepositions make up a group expressing movement with reference to an axis or

directional path. Up and Down express the opposite relation in terms of vertical direction,
whereas along contrasts with across with reference to a horizontal axis.
He walked along/across the street.
He ran up/down the hill.
He drove up/down the street.

4.1 Movement with reference to a directional path: up, down, along, across, etc
Up, down, across and (a)round, with verbs of motion, make up a group of prepositions
expressing movement with reference to an axis or directional path. Up and down contrast in
terms of vertical direction, eg:
We walked up the hill and down the other side.
Along contrasts with across ("from one side to another") in terms of a horizontal axis:
Be careful when you walk across the street.
With (a)round, the directional path is an angle or curve:
We ran (a)round the corner.
Towards indicates both "real" and "implied" motion, "in the direction of":
We walked towards the old farmhouse.

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4.2 Orientation: beyond, over, past, up, across, etc.
Most prepositions which express relative destination, passage, and movement with
reference to a directional path can be used in a static sense of orientation. This brings in a
third factor apart from the two things being spatially related: a point of orientation at which
the speaker is standing.
Beyond ("on the far side of") is a preposition whose primary meaning is one of orientation.
Over, past, across, and (a)round combine the meaning of beyond with more specific
information about dimension:
They live across the moors. (i.e. "from here
") The village is past the bus stop.
The village is through the wood.
Up, down, along, across, and (a)round are used orientationally with reference to an axis in:
The shop down the road ("towards the bottom end of...")
There's a hotel across the road ("on the other side of...")
We can, if we like, specify the viewpoint by using a from-phrase:
He lives up/down/along/across the road from me

4.3 Resultative meaning: from, out of, over, past, etc.

Prepositions which have the meaning of motion can usually have also a static resultative
meaning when combined with to be, indicating "the state of having reached the
destination":
The horses jumped over the fence. MOTION
The horses are over the fence ("have now jumped over")
Out of context, resultative meaning is not always distinguishable from other static meanings.
Its presence, however, is often signaled by certain adverbs (already, just, at last, (not) yet,
etc.). Resultative meaning is characteristically found with negative prepositions from, out of,
etc., or with prepositions of "passage" such as across, through, and past:
At last we are out of the forest.
When you're past the next obstacle, you can relax.

4.4 Pervasive meaning: over, throughout, with, etc.

Over and through, especially when preceded by "all", have pervasive meaning. Throughout
can be used instead of all through:
He pointed (all) over the walls (He covered the walls with paint)
The epidemic has spread throughout the country

5. EXPRESSION OF DISTANCE

Distance can be expressed by means of noun phrases of measure such as: a foot, a few
yards, ten miles, a long way, etc. These phrases can modify a verb of motion:
He ran several miles.
They can also precede and modify an adverbial of place or direction:
They live a long way away.
The valley lay two thousand feet below them.
They flew two hundred miles (to the) West.
If the reference is to movement, the corresponding question form is:
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 How far did he run?
But if the reference is to static location the question form is:
How far away do they live?

6. CONCLUSION

In this paper we have dealt with the different ways of expressing place, direction and
distance in English. The most common device used to express relational meanings are
prepositions. Thus, this unit has aimed to relate the different prepositional phrases with
their corresponding functions. In this sense, in the description of prepositions we have
found prepositions denoting positive position, relative position, orientation, etc. The
expression of spatio-temporal relations in English is very different from the Spanish way.
This is the reason why students find it really difficult to use prepositions in English.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aarts, F., and J. Aarts. English Syntactic Structures. Functions & Categories in Sentence
Analysis. Prentice Hall Europe, 1988.
Greenbaum, S. and R. Quirk. A Student's Grammar of the English Language. London:
Longman, 1990.
Huddleston, R.. English Grammar, An Outline. Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Quirk, R & S. Greenbaum. A University Grammar of English. London: Longman, 1973.
Thomson, A.J. and A.V. Martinet. A Practical English Grammar. OUP, 1986.

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