<p>I've read 于 was a preposition, but there were many unrelated translations for it. 之 is as far as I know an object pronoun, like for instance him, her, them but can also mean somthing different.</p>

<p>How is this expression actually used in classical Chinese? What is its verbatim meaning? Why does the contraction 焉 sound so much different than the two characters?</p>

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2014-10-25T15:24:05.993Z
It is 于之 = at it/ on it, but not 与之 = with it.
Wala
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2014-11-20T15:54:17.133Z
You may think 之 is more like the relative pronoun _which_ and 焉 _where_. It's just that we don't really have relative clauses in Chinese, so 之 and 焉 may look like _it_ and _there_ respectively. I'm not sure if 焉 was really a contraction of 于之, but I suppose it's not. It could be related to another interrogative pronoun 安 _where_. Perhaps Chinese was an inflectional language and had a complete system of pronouns, but the difference was lost. As a result, 焉 is sometimes the same as 于之, sometimes the same as 安.
Yang Muye
<grammar><classical-chinese>
What is the meaning and usage of 于之 and its contraction 焉 in classical Chinese?
# What is the meaning and usage of 于之 and its contraction 焉 in classical Chinese?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-25)

I've read 于 was a preposition, but there were many unrelated translations for it. 之 is as far as I know an object pronoun, like for instance him, her, them but can also mean somthing different.

How is this expression actually used in classical Chinese? What is its verbatim meaning? Why does the contraction 焉 sound so much different than the two characters?

**Tags:** grammar, classical-chinese

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is 于之 = at it/ on it, but not 与之 = with it.  
> **username_2**: You may think 之 is more like the relative pronoun _which_ and 焉 _where_. It's just that we don't really have relative clauses in Chinese, so 之 and 焉 may look like _it_ and _there_ respectively. I'm not sure if 焉 was really a contraction of 于之, but I suppose it's not. It could be related to another interrogative pronoun 安 _where_. Perhaps Chinese was an inflectional language and had a complete system of pronouns, but the difference was lost. As a result, 焉 is sometimes the same as 于之, sometimes the same as 安.  

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