Why can't sentances end in prepositions?
Cheiromancer
Adventurer
Dunno. Cuz they are pre-positions? Their position is before a word, not after it. And if you are at the end of the sentence, you are in a post-position?
I think the rule originally came from folks who wanted to imitate Latin style. That's where the rule against split infinitives comes from anyway. You can't split an infinitive in Latin since they are only one word.
I think the rule originally came from folks who wanted to imitate Latin style. That's where the rule against split infinitives comes from anyway. You can't split an infinitive in Latin since they are only one word.
My understanding (and forgive me if I'm wrong; this is 25-year-old information) is that, in proper English, a prepositional phrase begins with its preposition; the words that follow the preposition are thus dependent upon it, and keeping it in that order makes the meaning of the phrase clearer.
Improper usage tends to take two forms:
1) Leaving off the remainder of the phrase. For example: "I'm going to the store, do you want to come with?" ("me" is implied, and the gramatically-correct ending of that sentence is "do you want to come with me?")
2) Inversion of the preposition with its dependent phrase. For example: "Never use a preposition to end a sentence with." (Gramatically-correct version is, "Never end a sentence with a preposition.")
My suspicion is that the gramatically-correct versions sound overly-formal to many people, even if they know the rules. Common usage of dangling participles seems to have really increased in my lifetime; I wouldn't be suprised if it eventually becomes "acceptable" (that's how language changes).
Improper usage tends to take two forms:
1) Leaving off the remainder of the phrase. For example: "I'm going to the store, do you want to come with?" ("me" is implied, and the gramatically-correct ending of that sentence is "do you want to come with me?")
2) Inversion of the preposition with its dependent phrase. For example: "Never use a preposition to end a sentence with." (Gramatically-correct version is, "Never end a sentence with a preposition.")
My suspicion is that the gramatically-correct versions sound overly-formal to many people, even if they know the rules. Common usage of dangling participles seems to have really increased in my lifetime; I wouldn't be suprised if it eventually becomes "acceptable" (that's how language changes).
RangerWickett
Legend
Cheiromancer has it right regarding infinitives, and I imagine the same logic holds with prepositions.
To quote Winston Churchill, "Prepositions at the end of sentences are something up with which you shall not put."
To quote Winston Churchill, "Prepositions at the end of sentences are something up with which you shall not put."
Infiniti2000
First Post
Those weren't the ones I was thinking of.kenobi65 said:
MavrickWeirdo
First Post
The way it was explained to me is that prepositions are words that describe placement (in time or space) relative to something else.
Over/under, near/far, before/after
If you end with a preposition then you have left out the "something else" (typically because it is assumed.)
Over/under, near/far, before/after
If you end with a preposition then you have left out the "something else" (typically because it is assumed.)
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
MavrickWeirdo said:
There are plenty of sentences ending in prepositions where nothing is left out. (Sorry, 'out of which nothing is left'.)
"What did you hit him with?"
vs
"With what did you hit him?"
"Just find something to sit on."
vs
"Just find something on which to sit."
"That's where I come from."
vs
"That's from where I come."
or, more naturally,
"I come from there."
-Hyp.
Simplicity
Explorer
Even Latin allowed its writer to leave implied words out.
Uh... Even Latin allowed its writer to leave out implied words.
And English has much more draconian word-ordering requirements than Latin ever had... Mostly because the 10,000 word endings told you where in the sentence the word belongs... Usually. ("Beware greeks bearing gifts? No! Beware gifts bearing greeks! It's a Latin pun! Get it? Oh... your city burnt down. My bad.")
Anyways I think looking to Latin for the reasons is perhaps a bit silly... Most of these things are just folk knowledge rules that people use. It gets published in enough books that define what is "proper" English. The origin is probably that it was a stylistic techinique that was easy to remember, and thus it removed most other usages from the language.
Think about it. The rule is: Never end your sentence with a preposition. That's how everyone remembers it. But if you wanted to be CORRECT, that wouldn't be the rule. The rule would be: Always follow a preposition with its object.
The real question is why was it chosen to be in enough books... Probably BECAUSE it sounds more formal and stilted. Plus it's very easy to remember and point out when you see it. ("Ah! That sentence ends with with! Wait a minute... Crap!") There's also the argument that it's less ambiguous to never put it at the end.
Uh... Even Latin allowed its writer to leave out implied words.
And English has much more draconian word-ordering requirements than Latin ever had... Mostly because the 10,000 word endings told you where in the sentence the word belongs... Usually. ("Beware greeks bearing gifts? No! Beware gifts bearing greeks! It's a Latin pun! Get it? Oh... your city burnt down. My bad.")
Anyways I think looking to Latin for the reasons is perhaps a bit silly... Most of these things are just folk knowledge rules that people use. It gets published in enough books that define what is "proper" English. The origin is probably that it was a stylistic techinique that was easy to remember, and thus it removed most other usages from the language.
Think about it. The rule is: Never end your sentence with a preposition. That's how everyone remembers it. But if you wanted to be CORRECT, that wouldn't be the rule. The rule would be: Always follow a preposition with its object.
The real question is why was it chosen to be in enough books... Probably BECAUSE it sounds more formal and stilted. Plus it's very easy to remember and point out when you see it. ("Ah! That sentence ends with with! Wait a minute... Crap!") There's also the argument that it's less ambiguous to never put it at the end.
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