学过英语的人都知道：in front of ≠in the front of，前者即“在……前面”，后者因多了一个定冠词the，含义变成了“在……的前面部分（前部），在最突出部位”。如果我们稍加留心，就会发现，这是英语的一种十分普遍的有趣现象。

1/ go to school 上学

      go to the school  到学校里去

    Do they go to school?

    他们上学（在学校学习）吗？

    You’d better go to the school to see the headmaster.

    你最好去学校见见校长。

2/ in secret  秘密地，暗自地，偷偷地

      in the secret  知道内情（秘密）

    But in secret she was delighted.

    她暗中窃喜。

    I was in the secret from the beginning.

    从一开始我就知道内情。

 3/ in case 万一

      in the case 就……来说

Let me know in case you’re not coming.

万一你不来，请通知我一下。

In the case of a physical change no new substance is formed.

就物理变化来说，没有新的物质产生。

  4/ in the course of 当……时候

      in course of 在……过程之中

In the course of one year her hair turned completely grey.

在一年时间内，她的头发都变成灰白了。

All the old property in this area is in course of demolition.

这地区的古老的财产正在受到破坏。

5/ by hand 用手工（做）

      by the hand 搀着手

Are your socks knitted by hand or are they machine-made?

你的袜子是手织的，还是机器织的？

He led his boy by the hand across the street.

他搀着孩子的手穿过大街。

6/ in future 从今以后

  in the future 在将来

You should be more careful with your work in future.

今后，你对工作应再仔细些。

Who can tell what will happen in the future?

谁晓得将来会发生什么情况？

7/ keep house 理家

  keep the house  居家简出

She offered to stay and keep house.

她主动留下来料理家务。

The doctor told her to keep the house for a few days.

医生要她在家休息几天。

8/ in red 身穿红衣服

  in the red 亏损

The girl in red is my sister.

穿红色衣服的那个女孩是我的妹妹。

The company has been in the red until he took over.

在他接管之前，这个公司一直亏损。

9/ in view of 鉴于，考虑到

  in the view of 按……意见

In view of his youth, the police have decided not to continue with the case against him.

考虑到他的年轻，警方决定停止审理他的案件。

In the view of the director, we are right in doing this experiment.

根据校长的意见，我们做这个实验是对的。

10/ in sight of 看见

   in the sight of 在……看来，就……而言

Are you in sight of the red flag on the top of the mountain?

你能看见山顶上的那面红旗吗？

Blacks and whites in America are equal in the sight of the law.

从法律观点来看，美国的黑人和白人是平等的。

11/ take air 传播

   take the air 呼吸新鲜空气

The matter has taken air somehow. Everyone seems to know about it.

不知怎么事情已经传开了，好象每个人都知道。

I’d like to go out to take the air.

我想出去呼吸新鲜空气。

又如：take the advice（听人劝告）与take advice（征求意见，领教），on the occasion（在……的时候）与on occasion（有时），take the form (of)（取……形状/形式）与take form（成形），in the charge of（由……负责管理）与in charge of（管理，负责），in the possession of（为……所有）与in possession of（占有，拥有），on the watch（密切注视）与on watch（在值班），in store（贮存着，将发生）与in the store（在商店里）。