Posted on 11/18/2024 8:47:25 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Star Wars fans might recall Obi-Wan’s Jedi mind trick in A New Hope when he tells stormtroopers, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” Were Star Wars writers wrong about the placement of the preposition “for”? Should Obi-Wan instead have said, “These aren’t the droids for which you’re looking”? The latter sounds unnatural (and much more Yoda-esque, to be honest). Situations like these have caused grammar reformers to question or outright rebel against this “rule” about not ending sentences with prepositions.
Prepositions explain one noun’s relation to another, often indicating where or when. They can tell you if a cat is above, below, beside, or under the bed, and they also indicate if the cat hid there before, during, or after dinner. Some argue against ending a sentence with a preposition because it indicates a relationship between two words. They reason that a sentence might seem unfinished if a second noun isn’t included after the preposition. However, ending a sentence with a preposition isn’t the grave grammar mistake that some make it out to be.
Consider this sentence: “The vase was on the table until the cat knocked it off.” Ending with the preposition “off” sounds natural. By the same token, “That’s what I’m talking about” sounds better than “That’s about which I’m talking,” and the structure of “I have no eggs to bake with” is more common than “I have no eggs with which to bake.” As you can see, context and structure matter.
However, just because it isn’t wrong doesn’t mean it’s always right. Sometimes, that ending preposition is redundant. Asking a friend, “Where are you at?” or “Where are you going to?” falls into this trap with unnecessary prepositions. “Where are you?” and “Where are you going?” are complete questions. To avoid this mistake, try removing the end preposition and see if the sentence still makes sense.
To give some context, the argument for the rule dates back to the 17th century. Grammarians tried to instill Latin preposition placement rules into English, resulting in some believing these were hard-and-fast English rules. In modern English, preposition placement comes down to writing style — there’s no need to adhere to an arbitrary centuries-old rule. Today, most grammar guides and syntax experts agree that ending a sentence with a preposition is OK if it sounds natural and doesn’t break any true grammar rules.
Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which we shall not put!
That’s something I will not put up with!.................
It depends on what you’re doing it for.
A snobbish English teacher was sitting in an Atlanta airport coffee shop waiting for her flight back to Connecticut, when a friendly Southern Belle sat down next to her.
“Where y’all goin’ to?” asked the Southern Belle.
Turning her nose in the air, the snob replied “I don’t answer people who end their sentences with prepositions.”
The Southern Belle thought a moment, and tried again.
“Where y’all goin’ to, BITCH?”
It depends upon what you’re into.
I use the word “huh”: “Where are you going to, huh?”
Ya beat me to it!
I was going to write “Ending a sentence with a preposition is something we will not up with put.” but I guess I don’t need to write it any more.
“Where are you at?” or “Where are you going to?”
“Where you at?” or “Where you going?
In all series, almost any sentence that ends with as preposition can be rewritten to end without a preposition. Writers who end sentences with prepositions are generally lazy — at least that’s what Grandma taught me.
LOL
It should always be before a noun, never after.
Whatchoo say dat for?
To people who use their speech and like it to be precise, its not unnatural at all.
Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
(From some forgotten English class)
Or as Churchill said (possibly apocryphal), “That is something up with which I will not put.”
well yes, as long as...
I’ve never wanted to.
A kid from Alabama gets accepted to Harvard. Confused on his first day, he asks an upperclassman, “Excuse me sir. I’m new here and I don’t know my way around. Can you tell me where the library is at?” The upperclassman responds. “I don’t know who you are or how you got here. But this is Harvard, the finest, most prestigious and renowned University in the world. We have very high standards. We do not go about ending sentences in prepositions. Rephrase your question.” The new kid says. “Sure thing. “Excuse me sir. I’m new here and I don’t know my way around. Can you tell me where the library is at, a$$hole?”
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