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

Coles And Lopez ^ | 5/22/17 | India Lopez

[SoCal Pubbie]

You mean Captain Kirk shouldn’t have said “to boldly go where no man has gone before?”

[lepton]

Along that line, punctuation should only be inside quotation marks if they are part of the original quotation.

[lepton]

Grammar rules are like speed limits. Often they are ignored. But, they are there for a reason.

---

However, some of the argued rules - such as the one mentioned in the title - aren’t actually English grammar rules, but Latin ones. Might as well apply Spanish grammar rules for English.

[dfwgator]

I Love You, Period - Dan Baird

Back when I was goin’ to school,
I never learned a thing
All I did was daydream,
A-waitin’ for the bell to ring
I had a certain teacher,
I always tried to impress her
When she stood up in the classroom,
I would mentally undress her
Then one day I decided,
That I would write a little letter
She said the spellin’ was a masterpiece,
The punctuation could be better
I understood what she was saying,
I got the gist of her sentiment
She said “I don’t mean to be degrading,
“but here’s the way that it should’ve went:”

Chorus) I love you period
Do you love me question mark
Please, please exclamation point
I want to hold you in parentheses
I love you period
Do you love me question mark
Please, please exclamation point
I want to hold you in parentheses

Right on up to high school,
People said I was a writin’ fool
All my letters became really great,
With punctuation that was never late
But I was havin’ trouble meetin’ girls,
I never knew the things to say
Soon I had ‘em all overwhelmed,
When they heard me talk this way, like this:

Chorus) I love you period
Do you love me question mark
Please, please exclamation point
I want to hold you in parentheses
I love you period
Do you love me question mark
Please, please exclamation point
I want to hold you in parentheses

[lepton]

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

---

Also applies to Latin, but not English.

[lepton]

My pet peeve in written and conversational is “this” and “her” and “his”.

---

Pronouns should be defined and distinct.

[9422WMR]

“So what am I supposed to end a sentence with?”
. ? !

[alexander_busek]

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

Poppycock!

It should be: Whence did he get his temper?

The proper reply would then be "Hence! or "Thence!"

Regards,

[Don W]

That is an absurdity up with which I shall not put!

[HangnJudge]

...You mean Captain Kirk shouldn’t have said
...“to boldly go where no man has gone before?”

You're Despicable...

[mumblypeg]

My pet peeve is subject pronouns used as objects of the preposition.

When the boss and I announced our engagement, our coworkers gave a lovely wedding gift to he and I.

[mumblypeg]

“Where” and “were” seem to confound many these days, too.

[Thank You Rush]

Bill Buckley told us years ago that it was perfectly ok to end a sentence with a preposition so I decided to listen to him and forget what I learned in English classes...

HOWEVER, I believe it’s still bad English and bad grammar to say, “Where were you at?” It’s too “red neckish”....has nothing to do with ending the sentence with a preposition..

[mumblypeg]

In Cajun, that’s “Where yat?”

[smalltownslick]

Why would you even use at? Where are you is complete and clear.

[Flaming Conservative]

I try to avoid ending sentences with prepositions, but then I end up with incredibly awkward sentences of which the average person thinks makes little sense, and to which he points, and at which he laughs.
And,as Winston Churchill most famously, (did NOT) say, “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.”

[Thank You Rush]

Something you hear every day from supposed educated persons.

If you’re talking about a person - it’s WHO but if you’re talking about a place - it’s THAT...

“It was her THAT........” No - “It was her WHO........”

I hear interviews where it is misused by everyone...”She’s the one THAT......”

I don’t even know what the rule is that applies here but I know it when I hear it. And I’m like Rush - I don’t even understand what I’m saying....

[Billthedrill]

I look at the ruthless enforcement of useless and arbitrary rules as training for a life in leftwing politics. You will use the Oxford comma or there will be beatings.

[Thank You Rush]

““Where” and “were” seem to confound many these days, too.””

HA - this could go on all day. How about “lose” and “loose?”

[TIElniff]

“You mean Captain Kirk shouldn’t have said “to boldly go where no man has gone before?””

Well, OK. Never split an infinitive unless there is a good stylistic reason to do so!