Ending a sentence with a preposition. Forum

[Anonymous User]

A professor once taught me not to end a sentence with a preposition. However, when I do some research on the internet, a lot of articles come up stating that it is not a rule and it's not wrong to do it. Whats your take on this?

[eyescream]

Not a big deal. You should be fine.

[Davidbentley]

I asked this Northern woman, "Where are y'all from?" And she said, "I'm from a place where we don't end our sentences with prepositions." So I said, "Okay, where are y'all from, bitch?"

Many variations on the theme.

[CanadianWolf]

Some write that it's not something to be concerned about; nevertheless, in my opinion, it is something about which you should be concerned.

[WanderingPondering]

A professor once taught me not to end a sentence with a preposition. However, when I do some research on the internet, a lot of articles come up stating that it is not a rule and it's not wrong to do it. Whats your take on this?

Do you mean your 5th grade English teacher? I can't imagine a professor caring about it.

The general rule of a preposition not being used at the end of a sentence is based off the assumption that it needs to have an object attached to it, which isn't always the case. Example: I'll be around. Around is the preposition, and maybe it would be better to say "I'll be around town", but it might not be necessary or accurate. And hell, if The Spinners can sing I'll Be Around, I can sure say it.

[Rotor]

Some write that it's not something to be concerned about; nevertheless, in my opinion, it is something about which you should be concerned.

Agree. While it may not be absolutely verboten to dangle your prepositions, better writing tends not to use them.

I've had people quote a quip to me on this regard: "Dangling prepositions are something up with which I will not put." (attributed to Winston Churchill).

Obviously, "up" and "with" are prepositions and the lesson of the quip is intended to show that sometimes you cannot avoid it. However, my response is that better sentence construction would put the subject and verb in front and the object at the end so that it would read: "I will not put up with dangling prepositions."