Member
|
|
|
|
Member Info
|
|
|
|
Winston Churchill and Mae West
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Shepherd
This thread has been hijacked and gone twice around the world now so:
"Is it acceptable to end a sentence in a preposition?"
From Wikipedia / Wiki Answers:
Yes. It is perfectly acceptable.
There is a very common misunderstanding that, in proper English grammar, one should never end a sentence with a preposition (of, at, on, in, etc.).
It is perfectly acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition, as long as that preposition is critical to the meaning of the sentence.
I am Edmond Weiss, author of of the book referred to as Writing Remedies, but which is actually called 100 Writing Remedies. Although this book does contain the passage "Do not end a sentence with a preposition," in fact I never wrote that sentence. What I wrote was: A preposition is a word you should not end a sentence with. The young copy editor at Oryx Press did not get the joke, replaced my sentence with the one you quoted, and refused to follow my instructions to put things back. There is not now, nor has there ever been, any rule against ending an English sentence with a preposition.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_prop...#ixzz1aIaDUfMh
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_prop..._a_preposition
Addtionally:
Some sentences do properly end with a preposition The learnèd fools set you up. Do not give in. This phony rule is nothing we must put up with. Latin sentences may not end with a preposition, but it is perfectly correct in English.
There is nothing grammatically incorrect, at least in the English language, about ending a sentence with a preposition. Technically, this is referred to as "preposition stranding", and it occurs any time a preposition and its object are separated, not just at the end of a sentence (Note, the separation of the preposition and its object must be by more than an adjective or two to qualify as preposition stranding: "with a sunny disposition" is not preposition stranding. Also, preposition stranding usually involves reversing the usual order, i.e., placing the object somewhere before the preoposition.) But wherever in the sentence it occurs, there is absolutely nothing wrong with preposition stranding. What is wrong is to rearrange a sentence in a way that makes it cumbersome or less understandable, all in an effort to follow this false rule.
One example sentence commonly (and deceitfully) used to show that preposition-stranding is incorrect is "Where is the library at?". This sentence is absolutely incorrect, but not because it ends with a preposition. It is incorrect because "at" is not needed. To see this, simply rearrange the sentence by putting "where" after "at", as in "The library is at where?" Doesn't make sense, does it? If you asked the question this way, you would omit "at", and so it is not necessary. However, if I instead asked "Which building is the library in?", that would be perfectly acceptable.
By the way, though the first answerer is correct in his/her conclusion, I need to point out that neither of the first two sentences given as examples actually ends with a preposition. Though "up" and "in" can be used as prepositions, they are not prepositions the way they are used in those two sentences, but are instead adverbs. Also, in the third sentence, though "with" is a preposition, "up" is not. The way you can tell is that a preposition always has an object, somewhere in the sentence, even if it's not immediately after the preposition.
Here are some better examples of grammatically-correct English sentences that end with prepositions:
What are you talking about? ("about" is the preposition, "what" is the object)
That's the girl I'm going out with. ("with" and "that")
What are you looking at? ("at" and "what")
Put this back where you got it from. ("from" and "where (you got it)")
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_shouldn't_you_end_a_sentence_with_a_prepositio n#ixzz1aIb8ZEqq
Best,
Mike |
Hey, I only know what the Nuns beat into us in English composition. Sister Cecelia obres de cojones de laton (not Latin) often quoted the fat Limey PM-- "An umbrella is something out with which I shall not go in a rainstorm" (A common place event in The Big Foggy I hear tell- Now Mae West- de las grandes tetons-- always ended her sentences with a proposition- but she wasn't a Nun, now was she-- 
|