Ending a sentence with a preposition

[nowisforever]

I've read that it is usually improper to end a sentence with a preposition. However, I don't know if there are any general rules about when this construction is appropriate. What do you suggest?

[Cecily]

There is nothing inherently wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition.

There may always be an alternative, and sometimes you should use it, but often it's clumsy. It's about having a feel for language, rather than a tick list of rules, but of course it’s easier to teach rules than to teach discernment.

In fact this is a spurious rule invented in the 17th century by the playwright John Dryden (even though he didn’t always adhere to it) and propagated when the first English grammar books were written, based on Latin grammar. See http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004454.html for starters.

Look at what you read, whether that be novels, popular science books or newspapers and you may be surprised how often you will see prepositions are at the end of sentences.

However, whilst it is widely used and accepted in BrE (when criticised for it, Churchill allegedly responded, "This is the type of English up with which I will not put"), it does seem to raise more hackles amongst Americans.

[Maeve]

There's a DWT post on this topic:

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/go-ahead-put-that-preposition-at-the-end/

[Sound of Silence]

Fantastic post, Cecily.

'Rules'. If I could ban one thing it would be 'rules'. 'Guidelines', I like 'guidelines'. It doesn't sound as rigid as 'rules'. :D

[Cecily]

Thank you.

I think one of the big problems with rules is that it's easy for people to fixate on them, regardless of relevance.

Ultimately, the purpose of language is to communicate something successfully, i.e. to be understood in its widest sense (which may include bowing to convention where you don't want someone to think you are unfamiliar with standard English).

Know your audience; context is all. Those are rules. Most of the others are guidelines.

[ellanovella]

If you ever find yourself trying to decide whether or not it may be acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition, your best option is to got with whatever structure best improves the flow of the sentence.