As we all know, preposition is a kind of function word used to reflect the relations between words or sentences. It can’t be functioned as a single sentence element in the sentence. For the foreigners whostudy Chinese in China, preposition in Chinese language is a difficult point. In this article, several prepositions of elementary level will be explained.
When foreign students begin to learn Mandarin, the preposition “在” which has the similar meaning as “at” or “in” is often seen. It can be used to express time in the example “飞机在上午九点准时到达”. For the usage for place, we can understand from the sentence “我在食堂吃中午饭”. If we use in “在…下”, it indicates to provide condition like “在他的帮助下，我的汉语进步很大”.
Besides, we often use it to describe the scope and the different aspects. Teachers in Chinese learning programs would tell you that it often together with words like “上、中、里、以上、以内、之间” in this usage. When we express the behavior subject, we often use the form “在…看来”. For instance, “在我看来，他没你想得那么笨”.
The prepositions “从” and “打” have the same meaning. We can use to imply the starting point of certain place, time and scope. One example is “我从/打明天开始减肥”. Learners who study in China should also know the application of the passing route or place. We can say “这条河从/打我家门前经过”.
Another meaning is “according to” to express the basis or foundation of something. For example, “从他的表现看，他是一个优秀的人”. In this usage, “打” is not allowed. When foreigners learn Chinese in China, they should know that “打” is often used in the dialect in north China. in Mandarin, we often use “从”. Besides, “从” is often used in four-character set phrase.
For the preposition “离”, it can indicate the separation both on time and space. In the example “离周末还有两天”, it means the distance in time. It is the space distance in the sentence “家乐福超市离我家很远”. Another meaning often used when students learn Chinese is the distance between reality and goal like “现在离成功还远着呢”.
The preposition “当” often used to form the prepositional phrase. Usually, it is placed at the beginning of the sentence to indicate the happen time of things. The most frequently used meaning for learners who just study Mandarin Chinese is to express one thing happens at the same time of the other thing. For instance, “当我想写作业时，突然停电了”. “正当” indicates the thing is happening in “正当我要出门时，电话铃响了”.
When we want to express something often happen, we use “每当…” like “每档我走过菜市场时，就会想起那个人”. Chinese teacher from summer program in China may tell you that “当…之前/之后/以后” means something happens before or after another. We can say “当考试开始以后，教室里静得只听见写字的声音”.
When we add demonstrative pronoun or time noun, it forms a prepositional phrase. For example, “当我考上大学的那一年，姐姐去英国了”. The foreigners who learn Mandarin Chinese should notice that when “当” indicates time, it takes no single time noun. It must take the time phrase that are formed with short clause or verb phrase.
“朝” and “朝着” are often used before the verbs to express the directions of the action. Usually, they can be replaced by each other. For instance, “那个小孩朝(着)他做了一个鬼脸，就跑了”. Learners who have internships in China often be told that “朝” can’t be placed after verb as complement but it can take nouns denote persons. Besides, nouns of locality are needless for “朝着”.
Generally speaking, the usage of the preposition is complex. For the beginners of Chinese languagelearning, they should learn some relatively simple ones with the help of examples.