The Myth

It is often thought as grammatically correct to not place prepositions at the end of sentences. For example, let’s look at this sentence, which is supposedly incorrectly:

-Look at this snail that I just stepped on.

And it should be rewritten like so:

-Look at this snail on what I just stepped.

Of course, this is silly in conversational English. Actually, the “don’t place prepositions are the end of sentences” rule does exist…but in Latin. And from there, somehow it has leaked into English as a myth. In short, prepositions can be placed anywhere if it is needed:

-Whom did you throw the pencil at? (correct, “at whom” is needed)
-So that’s where my pencil is at! (incorrect, “at” is not needed)
-So that’s where my pencil is! (correct)

Even though it is often easy to remove the preposition to check if the sentence still makes sense, sometimes it’s not so easy when dealing with inquisitorial adverbs: when and where. So see why, just read on below. Read the rest of this entry »