Prepositions in Arabic and English: A Descriptive Contrastive Study

Abstract

This study aims to (1) identify the similarities and differences in the use of prepositions in Arabic and English, and (2) analyze the challenges faced by non-Arabic speakers in translating prepositions between the two languages. The study adopts a qualitative comparative linguistic approach through a review of previous studies and an analysis of selected examples related to preposition usage. The data were obtained from the collection and analysis of relevant scholarly studies for the purpose of summarizing and comparing the use of prepositions in both languages. The findings indicate that there are both similarities and differences in the use of prepositions in Arabic and English. While both languages share basic prepositional functions, such as expressing place, time, and abstract relationships, they differ in terms of number, meaning, contextual usage, and grammatical structure. The results also show that a single Arabic preposition may carry multiple meanings depending on the sentence context, whereas English prepositions tend to be more specific and idiomatic. These differences constitute a major source of difficulty for students, particularly in translation from English into Arabic, and often lead to literal translation errors. Overall, this study demonstrates that a descriptive approach through contrastive analysis is effective in explaining differences in preposition usage between Arabic and English. The findings are expected to contribute to the field of comparative linguistics and serve as a useful reference for the teaching of Arabic and English, particularly in enhancing the accuracy of preposition usage and improving students’ translation skills.