Abstract:At present, there are many studies on prepositions themselves and on prepositions in business English, but there are few studies on prepositions in international business correspondence. This thesis aims to investigate the translation and function of prepositions in international business correspondence, hoping to be beneficial to people engaged in international trade to accurately translate and precisely convey the information. The author gives a summary and a supplement to the previous research and investigates from four aspects: 1. Prepositions; 2. International business correspondence and prepositions; 3. The translation of prepositions in different forms in international business correspondence; 4. The function of prepositions in international business correspondence. Through further study on these four aspects, the author arrives at a conclusion: prepositions play a subtle and important role in international business correspondence; to translate prepositions precisely, it is a must to understand the basic meanings of prepositions and command professional business knowledge. 

Key words: prepositions; international business correspondence; translation; function

CONTENTS

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Prepositions1

2.1 The Understanding of Prepositions

2.2 The Grammatical Functions of Prepositions 

3. International Business Correspondence and Prepositions.5

3.1 Stylistic Features of International Business Correspondence

3.2 The Importance of Prepositions in International Business Correspondence

3.3 The Translation Methods of Prepositions in International Business Correspondence 

4. The Translation of Prepositions in Different Forms in International Business Correspondence  15

4.1 Prepositions in Single Form

4.2 Prepositions with Prefixes

4.3 Prepositional Phrases

5. The Function of prepositions in International Business Correspondence19

6. Conclusion21

Bibliography.22

Acknowledgements23