- It's Time to Undo Those Rules from your childhood. - fhswolvesden
Many of you learned never to end a sentence with a preposition. Some of you don't remember the basic grammar rules learned so long ago. And still others of you may have never learned the rules of preposition usage, or maybe you blocked out the teacher's voice. Whatever your reason, you have found your way to this article, relax.
Prepositions are only words that describe the relationship between two things in a sentence. They are nothing to fear or avoid. You just have to remember when and where they belong.
When Ending a Sentence With a Preposition is Allowed
If a sentence would not make sense without a preposition at the end, leave the preposition attached to the end of the sentence. The following sentence doesn't make sense without the preposition: What table did you eat on? If you remove the preposition "on," the sentence loses its meaning, so in a situation like this one, it is acceptable to leave the preposition at the end of the sentence.
Some of you grammar experts might be arguing with this point, begging to rephrase the question as "On what table did you eat?" While this is technically correct, modern language practices (both oral and written) have moved toward the more natural flow of "What table did you eat on?"
When Ending a Sentence With a Preposition is Not Allowed
Any time a sentence can still make sense with the preposition removed, the preposition should be left off. The following sentence still makes sense without the preposition: "Where will she be meeting you at?" The sentence retains its meaning without the word "at," so the word should be removed from the end of the sentence. "Where will she be meeting you?" sounds better aloud and looks better on paper.
Preposition Usage in Other Parts of the Sentence
Prepositions are often left on the end of a sentence when they could be left off, but prepositions are often used in the middle of sentences when the sentence would make sense without the preposition. The following sentence does not require the preposition "of": Alice just walked out of the room. The sentence is less wordy and more direct as "Alice just walked out the room."
Remember that prepositions are only words that show the relationship between two parts of a sentence and should be removed from the end of a sentence and even within a sentence only when the sentence makes sense without the preposition.
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Megan B. Wyatt - Megan B. Wyatt has a BA in English, edits fiction manuscripts and currently works as an entertainment reporter in Lafayette, Louisiana.
