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Why You Should Ignore the Rule to Never End a Sentence With a Preposition
Coles And Lopez ^ | 5/22/17 | India Lopez

Posted on 05/18/2019 5:30:39 AM PDT by Moonman62

If you watch House of Cards, you might remember this scene from season one. (Warning: it contains the C-bomb, so don’t watch it if you’ll be offended by that!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=28&v=vaDoaCsgj_s

The joke is based on an entirely false grammar rule: “Thou shalt not end a sentence with a preposition.” Prepositions, remember, are words that describe the position of one thing in relation to another: at, to, in, of, about, from, above, etc. So you’ll hear people trying to obey this “rule” by saying things like this:

To what are you referring? (instead of What are you referring to?)

There is the person about whom I was speaking (instead of There is the person I was speaking about)

From where did he get his temper? (instead of Where did he get his temper from?)

But they needn’t bother, because every modern-day authority agrees there’s nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition. The “rule” was dreamed up by John Dryden in a petty attempt to prove that he was a better poet than Ben Jonson. He invented some hogwash about how English should abide by the same preposition rules as Latin, which made no sense, since they’re different languages with, for the most part, very different rules.

So if anyone scolds you for saying “What are you looking at?” instead of “At what are you looking?”, you can shame them with your superior knowledge of both grammar and 17th-century poetry – or just send them the link to that YouTube clip above.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Education; Poetry
KEYWORDS: grammar
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To: Moonman62

Up with which I will not put.


21 posted on 05/18/2019 6:06:21 AM PDT by LS ("Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: Moonman62

What? Is a preposition a bad word to end a sentence with?

Or, as the little boy sick in bed asked his mom, “What did you bring that book I wanted to be read to out of up for?”


22 posted on 05/18/2019 6:14:08 AM PDT by FNU LNU
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To: FNU LNU
“What did you bring that book I wanted to be read to out of up for?”

Nice! LOL

Diagram THAT sentence!

23 posted on 05/18/2019 6:28:17 AM PDT by super7man (Madam Defarge, knitting, knitting, always knitting)
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To: Vermont Lt

I too will make a trade of the occasional preposition at the end of a sentence for the proper use of “their”, “there” and “they’re”.

Grammar Police on Patrol


24 posted on 05/18/2019 6:30:36 AM PDT by super7man (Madam Defarge, knitting, knitting, always knitting)
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To: Moonman62

Language rules express the way people speak, not the way grammarians thought they did 300 years ago. How do people speak? Even if you don’t like it, that’s the language, not what’s in the book.

And it doesn’t matter what modern-day authorities say.

A preposition is OK to end a sentence with.


25 posted on 05/18/2019 6:30:43 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Islam, not a religion, a totalitarian political ideology aiming for world domination. -Wilders)
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To: super7man
...Diagram THAT sentence!...

Brings back painful memories of childhood!

26 posted on 05/18/2019 6:33:28 AM PDT by ex91B10 (Powered by the Penguin)
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To: DJ Frisat

“There is some crap, up with which, I will not put.” - a favorite line from Rebecca, on “Cheers.”


27 posted on 05/18/2019 6:47:05 AM PDT by gundog ( Hail to the Chief, bitches!)
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To: Moonman62

“Why You Should Ignore the Rule to Never End a Sentence With a Preposition”

There’s another rule: Never split an infinitive: Don’t write “to never end a sentence . . . .” but rather “never to end a sentence. . . . “


28 posted on 05/18/2019 6:47:41 AM PDT by TIElniff (Autonomy is the guise of every graceless heart.)
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To: Fightin Whitey
So what am I supposed to end a sentence with?

A period.

29 posted on 05/18/2019 6:54:51 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Elitist Liberals have no idea the hunger and strength of the beast they have uncaged.)
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To: Moonman62

Where are you at?


30 posted on 05/18/2019 6:57:27 AM PDT by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.......)
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To: Moonman62

There is a huge difference between written English, which is more formal, and spoken English which is assisted by facial expression and inflection. It is fine to end converstional sentences with prepositions. My pet peeve in written and conversational is “this” and “her” and “his”. I end up saying back “her who?” “this what?” a lot.


31 posted on 05/18/2019 7:05:37 AM PDT by yldstrk (Bingo! We have awinner)
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To: Fightin Whitey
So what am I supposed to end a sentence with?

Punctuation usually works for me.

32 posted on 05/18/2019 7:05:54 AM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: Fightin Whitey

Parole.


33 posted on 05/18/2019 7:06:07 AM PDT by yldstrk (Bingo! We have awinner)
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To: I want the USA back
Language rules express the way people speak, not the way grammarians thought they did 300 years ago. How do people speak? Even if you don’t like it, that’s the language, not what’s in the book.

Ebonics is definitely not in any book. Pretty weak defense otherwise.

34 posted on 05/18/2019 7:10:59 AM PDT by FirstFlaBn
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To: laweeks
Screw all that crap. I’m upset that I seldom ever see the Oxford comma used anywhere.

At work recently, we had some fun with this after receiving a writing guide that instructed us not to use the Oxford comma.

Commas truly change meanings.

"Eats leaves and shoots?" or "Eats, leaves, and shoots"?

Commas even save lives.

"Let's eat Grandma!" or "Let's eat, Grandma!"

Recently, a company was forced to pay a considerable amount of backpay to drivers as a result of a lacking Oxford comma. Lack of Oxford comma costs Maine dairy company $5 million

Moral: Never be afraid to use a comma.

35 posted on 05/18/2019 7:11:47 AM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: exDemMom; Moonman62; moovova; LS

36 posted on 05/18/2019 7:31:10 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: HangnJudge
"...With what am I supposed to end a sentence...."

In this case, a "?" would help.

37 posted on 05/18/2019 7:31:33 AM PDT by budj (combat vet, 2nd of 3 generations)
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To: TIElniff

“Why You Should Ignore the Rule to Never End a Sentence With a Preposition”

There’s another rule: Never split an infinitive: Don’t write “to never end a sentence . . . .” but rather “never to end a sentence. . . . “

...

What percentage of people know what the sentence means without noticing the grammar? I would say 99% or better.


38 posted on 05/18/2019 7:32:12 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Facts are racist.)
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To: Moonman62

If George Washington had not defeated Lord Cornwallis in Yorktown, we would still be speaking English in this country, Yo!


39 posted on 05/18/2019 7:41:06 AM PDT by outofsalt (If history teaches us anything, it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
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To: budj
...In this case, a "?" would help.

Are emojis permitted yet? 🤔

40 posted on 05/18/2019 7:45:38 AM PDT by HangnJudge
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