Ask & Learn聞問切英語口語:Inspection of/ on/ in/ at
讀者 Leo 來電郵問：下面兩句，應采用哪一個 preposition？
1. Inspections of/on/in/at food establishments were conducted yesterday.
2. An inspection is conducted of/on/in/at a food establishment.
最普遍的用法是 of，但改用 on、in或 at 也未嘗不可，只不過意思略有不同。
Inspections of the food establishments 和 an inspection is conducted of a food establishment 都是指檢查飲食場所，一般會看看處理食品的過程是否衛生清潔。如果使用on、in或at 等前置詞，重點就落在被檢查的地點上，而沒有說明檢查的目的。例如食物及衛生局檢查的是食物衛生，但入境處也可以檢查一所餐廳是否有雇用非法勞工，而警察也可以懷疑餐廳內有別的非法活動，特別來檢查一下。
如果說 "An inspection is conducted at/ in a food establishment"，我們只知道檢查是在餐廳進行，但餐廳本身不一定是調查對象，這跟 "Inspections of food establishments were conducted yesterday" 和 "the inspection is conducted of a food establishment" 檢查餐廳的飲食狀況的意思不太一樣。
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