Why Does It Sound Weird to End a Sentence with a Contraction? It’s a simple thing you can do to dialogue to make a character seem well-spoken , or something you can adopt in your narration to make it seem more distant and detached. Madame, that is a rule up with which I shall not put. Quick & Dirty Tips™ and related trademarks appearing on this website are the property of Mignon Fogarty, Inc. and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC. Just because you can end your sentence with a preposition doesn’t always mean you should – rephrasing a sentence in accordance with this rule strikes a formal, even academic, tone. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. I can hear some of you gnashing your teeth right now, while you think, “What about saying, 'On what did you step? Sometimes, the advice was to not end a sentence with a preposition. What Are the Parts of a Prepositional Phrase? Whistleblower changes tune, again, president-elect If we are to be fair we may credit Poole for creating the rule, and Dryden for popularizing it. However, the first sentence sounds much less natural than the second sentence. A preposition is a word that connects a verb, noun, or adjective with a noun or pronoun, showing the relationship between the two or another element in that same clause or sentence. There are theories that the false rule originates with the early usage guides of Joshua Poole and John Dryden, who were trying to align the language with Latin, but there is no reason to suggest ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong. I've read long arguments about why it's OK to end sentences with prepositions when the preposition isn't extraneous, but the driving point still seems to be “Normal people don't talk that way.”. This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put. Luckily for those poor, persecuted prepositions, that just isn’t true. In this era of copy-and-paste it’s truly unusual to find such rich variety. Why do both editorial and letter writers have to flagrantly split the infinitive? However, about 20% of your readers (see the poll) might not agree, so - to play it safe - you should consider avoiding ending a sentence with a preposition. In the 18th century, a number of people who liked telling other people that they were wrong decided Dryden was correct and began advising against the terminal preposition. Compare: This is a problem I have not thought of. Perhaps the most notable example of such is the rule against ending a sentence with a preposition (also known as preposition stranding, or sentence-terminal prepositions, for those of you who would like to impress/alienate your friends). Grammar snobs love to tell anyone who will listen: You should NEVER end a sentence with a preposition! This is insubordination, up with which I will not put! In regard to the rule against ending a sentence with a preposition, Churchill is famous for saying "This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put." Mignon Fogarty is the founder of Quick and Dirty Tips and the author of seven books on language, including the New York Times bestseller "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing." The first sentence of the second paragraph, "Here's where we're at". Trying to rephrase a sentence such as “There is nothing to be afraid of” so that you can avoid ending it with a preposition will leave you with an alternative that is less than ideal: “There is nothing of which to be afraid” strikes one as too formal, too far removed from Nonetheless, the idea that it is a rule is still held by many. Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. In a similar vein, many people who like to use terminal prepositions will give some mangled version of a quote from Winston Churchill, "This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put." — The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), 25 September 2015. This is the kind of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put. Supposedly an editor had clumsily rearranged one of Churchill’s sentences to avoid ending it in a preposition, and the Prime Minister, very proud of his style, scribbled this note in reply: “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.” The American Heritage Book of English Usage agrees. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! The issue with ending a sentence with a preposition is more a matter of style or rhetoric than grammar. And if you like to end your sentences with a succinct with, go right ahead and keep doing so—just don’t quote Winston Churchill when someone says that you shouldn’t. Here are a few preposition guidelines: Don’t end a sentence with a preposition 1 In formal writing George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, was so upset that people were using you (instead of thou) to address a single person that in 1660 he wrote an entire book about it. (Informal) This is a problem of which I have not thought. Here is just a sample of the variations circulating on the Net: One poor soul, unfamiliar with the word “arrant,” came up with: “That is the sort of errant criticism up with which I will not put.”. Her popular LinkedIn Learning courses help people write better to communicate better. It would have been fine to ask, “What are you thinking?” However, if moving the sentence around to avoid ending it in a preposition becomes too formal sounding, stick with the preposition at the end. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Google. Plus, you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. If it wasn't done on purpose, I would suggest Patrick go back to English Grammar 101 before he writes his next column. There are theories that the false rule originates with the early usage guides of Joshua Poole and John Dryden, who were trying to align the language with Latin, but there is no reason to suggest ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong. Biden projected 46th President. Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which we will not put. The word preposition is translated “position before”, or “to place before”. It's been said that prepositions often deal with space and time (1), which always makes me think of Star Trek. Please understand that ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I shall not put. It sure got mine. It is not clear how the anecdote came to be attributed to Churchill by Gowers, but it seems to have circulated independently earlier. And lastly, ending a sentence with a preposition is something we can do without! Ending A Sentence With A Preposition Using Prepositions At The End Of Sentences Preposition as the name suggests literally means that which is placed before.— Manik Joshi . Prepositional phrases are groupings of at least two words, consisting of, at minimum, the preposition and the object of the preposition, aka, the noun it precedes. In fact, the anti-preposition rule is largely a myth. So, you're ending a sentence with a preposition; and now you're wondering if it's grammatically correct to do so. If, in the process of avoiding ending a sentence with a preposition, the sentence begins to sound awkward, overly formal, or confusing, then it's acceptable to ignore the preposition rule. Academic Writing & College Application Essays, Academic Writing & School Application Essay FAQs, how to use prepositions at the end of a sentence, Resume Help for Career Uncertainty During COVID-19. For example, in the sentence, “What are you thinking of?,” the preposition “of” is not necessary because it does not add meaning to the sentence. In school, you were taught that the rules of grammar should never be violated: use apostrophes to connote possession, join two ideas using a semicolon, and never end a sentence with a preposition. However, by the time the 20th century rolled around most grammar and usage guides had come to the conclusion that there was really nothing wrong with terminal prepositions. At other times it was more general, as Poole’s rule was. For example, in the sentence, “What are you thinking of?,” the preposition “of” is not necessary because it does not add meaning to the sentence. So before I lose you, let's back up. Here's an example of a sentence that can end with a preposition: What did you step on? We are currently experiencing playback issues on Safari. Ben Zimmer has presented evidence on the alt.usage.english list that this story was not originally attributed to Churchill at all, but to an anonymous official in an article in The Strand magazine. The truth is that including a preposition at the end of a sentence is not always bad grammar. There is some disagreement as to how we came to cluck our tongues at people who finish off their sentences with an of, to, or through, but it is agreed that it’s been bothering people for a very long time. You can't say, “What did you step?” You need to say, “What did you step on?” to make a grammatical sentence. Find the answers you're looking for here. However, it is still best to try to conform to this rule if it does not alter clarity, particularly in professional and academic writing.

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