VOA慢速英语--Though, Throughout and Go Through

This week, we answer a question about three similar sounding terms. Our listener Suri writes:

Question:

Hi, I want to know the meaning of "through," "throughout" and "go through."

Answer:

Hello Suri,

Let me begin by talking about "through" and "throughout." Both can be used as prepositions¹ or adverbs. Today, I will explain their uses as prepositions.

Both words can relate to space or time, depending on how they are used.

Space: though, throughout

I will talk about space first.

"Through" means moving from one side, or end, to another side, or end of something. For example, you can say, "The train went through the tunnel." That means it went in one side of the tunnel and out the other side.

"Through" can also mean within a place or within a piece of land, air, or something else. For example, you can say, "I walked through the park." That means you walked within the park.

"Throughout" means in every part of a place or thing. You can say, "There were pretty flowers throughout the park." That means every part of the park has pretty flowers. You can also say, "People throughout the United States have wonderful accents."

An easy way to think of the difference between "through" and "throughout" is this: "Through" generally suggests motion³; "throughout" generally describes a place or location.

Time: through, throughout

Now, let's think about how these words relate to time.

"Through" suggests moving toward⁴ the completion or end of something. For example, "The sale goes through the end of June" means the sale will continue or last until the end of June.

"Throughout" means during an entire situation or period of time. For example, "We heard birds singing throughout the day" means we heard them all day long.

Go through

And finally, we turn to the term "go through."

"Go through" is a phrasal verb with several meanings. Yet most are not related⁵ to the meanings of "through" and "throughout."

But there is one meaning that relates in a small way — to examine something carefully. I can say, "I went through all of the papers and found what I was looking for." This meaning of "go through" suggests moving "through" something: in this case, the papers.

For other meanings of "go through," you can use an online dictionary, such as The Merriam Webster Learners' Dictionary.

That's all for Ask a Teacher this week.

I'm Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

preposition² - n. a word that shows direction, location or time, or introduces an object

adverb - n. a word that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree

tunnel - n. a passage that goes through a hill or under the ground

park - n. a piece of public land in or near a city that can be used for pleasure and exercise

accent - n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a region⁶ or country

phrasal verb - n. a group of words that functions as a verb and is made up of a verb and a preposition, an adverb, or both

dictionary - n. a reference book that contains words listed in alphabetical order and gives information about the meanings, forms and pronunciations

1 prepositions   

n.介词( preposition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She lays a lot of emphasis on the usage of prepositions. 她把重点放在介词的使用上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Prepositions and conjunctions are particles. 介词和连词是小品词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 preposition   

n.介词

参考例句：

• You should cancel this preposition in the sentence.你应该删去句子中的这个介词。
• We use different preposition to talk about time,days,months and seasons.我们用不动的介词来谈论时间，日，月和季节等。

3 motion   

n.打手势，示意，移动，动作，提议，大便；v.运动，向...打手势，示意

参考例句：

• She could feel the rolling motion of the ship under her feet.她能感觉到脚下船在晃动。
• Don't open the door while the train is in motion.列车运行时，请勿打开车门。

4 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

5 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

6 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。