Grammar Rules: Ending a Sentence with a Preposition
by Brilliant in Grammar Tips 0
Is it ever acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition?
A longstanding grammar fable says we’re not supposed to finish a sentence with a preposition. For years, this fantasy has endured, tying writers up in knots and making their heads spin around sentences that simply should end with a preposition.
For instance: Which retailer are you going to?
People who had been taught (and are actually hooked up to the idea) that one ought to by no means finish a sentence with a preposition will argue that the correct method to write the sentence is as follows: To which store are you going?
But no one talks that way.
Grammar guidelines and myths
On the earth of writing, grammar myths abound, but where do they come from? I believe they're born not out of rules but out of guidelines of thumb. In many circumstances, it’s not a good suggestion to end a sentence with a preposition. Permit me to reveal:
The place do you work at?
The problem right here is not so much that the sentence ends with a preposition. It ends with a very pointless word. Take away that final word and also you get a a lot clearer, more concise, and correct sentence:
The place do you work?
This begs the question: when is it acceptable to finish a sentence with a preposition? In reality, what's a preposition?
What's a preposition?
Prepositions are one of the conventional eight components of speech in the English language. They usually point out a course or placement in area (in, on, toward) or perform an identical function in a more abstract and fewer spatial means (of, for). They have a tendency to indicate a relationship or movement of some variety:
The guide is in my hand.
Put the blanket over the bed.
Let’s go to the corridor of mirrors.
I have something for you.
The pens are with the paper.
Among the most common prepositions are: on, in, to, by, for, with, at, of, from, as, underneath, over, about, above, beneath, behind, and between. There are lots more, but you get the idea.
By the way, you possibly can be taught much more than you ever needed to learn about prepositions on Wikipedia.
When is it okay to finish a sentence with a preposition?
If you happen to’ve structured your sentence as concisely as doable, removed any unnecessary words, and the only strategy to refrain from ending it with a preposition is to make it sound prefer it arrived in a time machine from the eighteenth century, then you’re most likely okay protecting the preposition at the end:
Who're you going with?
What are you waiting for?
We'd like one thing to put it in.
As you possibly can see, these are all commonplace sentences. They adhere to the foundations of grammar yet all of them end in prepositions. Just strive rewriting them without prepositions at the end:
With whom are you going?
For what are you waiting?
We need one thing through which to put it.
These are all technically right too, in the event you don’t mind sounding like you were born three hundred years ago.
Try it for yourself
Take a look at the following sentence:
There’s an concept I never thought of.
There’s nothing technically unsuitable with the sentence, but we might rewrite it so it doesn’t end with a preposition:
I never thought of that idea.
Which one sounds better to you?
Grammar and common sense
The problem with ending a sentence with a preposition is extra a matter of favor or rhetoric than grammar. If you want proof, check out this list of references on ending a sentence with a preposition.
So go forth and finish sentences with prepositions, but only when it is smart to do so. Write your sentences to be clear and concise, and you’ll be fine. Keep writing!
