Akama et al. [1] introduced a hierarchical classification of first-order formulas for a hierarchical prenex normal form theorem in semi-classical arithmetic. In this paper, we give a justification for the hierarchical classification in a general context of first-order theories. To this end, we first formalize the standard transformation procedure for prenex normalization. Then we show that the classes $$\textrm{E}_k$$ and $$\textrm{U}_k$$ introduced in [1] are exactly the classes induced by $$\Sigma _k$$ and $$\Pi _k$$ respectively via the transformation procedure in (...) any first-order theory. (shrink)