Friday, July 22, 2011

Grammar Friday - Prepositions at the End of a Sentence

So, we've all heard that we're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. Yet we all speak doing exactly that. Are we wrong?
Well, what does the Gregg Reference Manual say about it (section 1080 a-c, p. 347)?
Short questions and statements  frequently end with prepositions.
  • What is this made of?
  • Where did he come from?
  • You have nothing to worry about.

What about you? Do you have any interesting grammar rules that you have to jump around in your writing? Or any special secrets that make navigating the English language easier?

20 comments:

  1. haha...great comic to highlight the content of your post.

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  2. I write by "ear" a lot, and if the sentence flows and sounds right I'll keep it even if it's grammatically incorrect. I even write passively on purpose sometimes. I'm a rebel. What you looking at? :P

    Great cartoon.

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  3. that was FUN-ny!
    now what was that question for?
    me not best grammatician... =)

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  4. Love it! My bugaboo is split infinitives. I never know whether I'm allowed to split or not. I try not to, but sometimes it just sounds funny when I don't.

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  5. Oops! Thought of another! I never know what to do about about the he/she/they problem. As in "One must never eat yellow snow, as he/she doesn't know if it's clean." I hate the he/she, but they is wrong, and you switches person. AAGH!!! Aren't you glad you asked?

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  6. *Hears the word "rules" and runs screaming around Donna's place, banging on his drum and calling everyone to take up arms (or tea bags) against the establishment.

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  7. Oh, but I like using prepositions at the end of a sentence. It's so fun. Can't we break the rules? Pleassseee. :) Remember when they said it wasn't okay to start a sentence with the world AND, and now it's okay as long as it's for emphasis.

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  8. LOL!

    I actually read something recently on how it's not always wrong to add prepositions to the end of sentences, because sometimes writing is more natural with how we TALK. Let me see if I can find a link to it...

    I don't think this was the one I read before, but here's one: http://grammartips.homestead.com/prepositions1.html

    I think sometimes it's a matter of opinion, what sounds natural for the voice (sometimes it might sound okay in narrative to avoid the preposition, but maybe not so much with the words coming out of a character's mouth).

    I always seem to come across books that break so many rules, and sometimes I find this comes down to style. I'm always saying that it's a balance in writing, and it really is. Finding that line of voice and what sounds right and not wanting to pull people out of the book by breaking rules or whatever.

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  9. I'm a rule follower. Which is why I love so much that there's an actual "you can break the rules when you know what you're doing" rule. Whew!

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  10. I'm with L.G. I write by ear also. Sometimes the rules just sound weird. And what is the purpose of this rule anyway?

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  11. Poor guy. Just trying to uphold the English language! :P

    I usually "go by ear", and if it's something someone would say, then I stick with it.

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  12. Rules? Nah, only guidelines. Didn't we have this conversation with Bryce?

    I had a Catholic school education, even in college, so the rules of grammar were driven into my head with a jackhammer. Still, I go with the trends if they feel right.

    When you're writing fiction, I don't think there are any rules that can't be broken.

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  13. I'm still learning the rules and I'm afraid if I think too hard about it, I'll talk myself out of writing all together.

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  14. I like to write naturally as it flows and then I might go back and ruin it by fixing things or following rules. Unfortunately, that usually removes some of the creativity and I get annoyed--so the best advice I think is to go with your gut.If it sounds good when you read it out loud and you think someone listening to it would like it too, well then it's probably okay for government work. If your aiming for literary fiction then you need a bunch of rules.

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  15. I follow the lines of Stunk and White, also Stephen King, who say: it’s fine to end a sentence with a preposition, and in fact, it’s usually the best place for it.

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  16. I thing the no comma at the end of a sentence is one of those older rules that may go the way of the world. It does sound more formal by not ending a sentence (not counting ones like those in the example) with a preposition.

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  17. Well, I guess you have to get creative in the way that you end your sentences. Here is a good example. This is from the movie, "With Honors."

    http://youtu.be/OR7kVDwGiRg

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  18. I love that movie ... and that example!

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