Grammar can you end a sentence with a preposition

But nope. It persists. Professional editors often avoid capitalizing words that are treated like proper names elsewhere. Not much to sink your teeth into there. Prepositions are typically followed by an object, which can be a noun noon , a noun phrase the door , or a pronoun you.

Some of the most common prepositions are: at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, with, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, during, except, inside, instead of, into, like, near, off, on top of, onto, out of, outside, over, past, since, though, toward, over, under, until and without. It's about writing a sentence that will definitely not irk your readers. Also, there's a fair chance that if you've reworded your sentence to avoid a preposition at the end, it will be a better, more succinct sentence.

So, avoid prepositions at the end of sentences. Just play the game. Ready for the Test? Here is a confirmatory test for this lesson. This test can also be: Edited i.

Printed to create a handout. It should be, "Here's where we are". If it wasn't done on purpose, I would suggest Patrick go back to English Grammar before he writes his next column. Conventional wisdom would figure that a Canadian citizen is a Canadian, regardless of status. Plus, you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. 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.

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. What to Know Ending a sentence with a preposition such as "with," "of," and "to," is permissible in the English language. More Words At Play. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms. Time Traveler. At one time, schoolchildren were taught that a sentence should never end with a preposition.

However, this is a rule from Latin grammar that was applied to English. Take a look at these examples of times when you can end a sentence with a preposition. This phrasing is more conversational, and therefore more appropriate in this setting, especially in questions.

For example:. It's perfectly acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition if the alternative would create confusion or sound unnatural. Several English idioms and colloquial expressions end in prepositions. When you put the expressions at the end of a sentence, the sentence therefore ends in a preposition. But generally, this use is acceptable. Phrases that sound natural in a conversation may feel overly familiar or awkward in a formal essay, article or conversation.

Here are some guidelines for changing sentences in formal writing. Prepositions form relationships between words the object of the preposition and other words in a sentence. They can show connections of location, time or ideas. Examples of prepositions at work include:. These prepositions all fall within the sentence, not at the end. But sometimes, prepositions find themselves at the end of a sentence. This is known as a dangling preposition or a hanging preposition.