You’ve probably heard that you should never end a sentence with a preposition. This is one of those hard-and-fast grammar rules taught in grade school, but in reality, it’s broken all the time. Sometimes ending a sentence with a preposition makes text easier to read and helps spoken ideas flow freely. Ending a sentence with a preposition makes for more casual usage, and, as experienced writers know, language and its rules shift according to how people use it. Let’s examine when you should and shouldn’t follow the rules around prepositions.
What Is a Preposition?
In grammar, a preposition is a word that expresses a relationship to another word or element in a sentence. For example, some prepositions reveal something about the location. These include “across,” “inside,” “between,” and “under.”
The remote was stuck between the cushions.
Other prepositions communicate details about the time in the sentence. These include “before,” “after,” “during,” and “since.”
We always have pie after Sunday dinner.
Prepositions can also combine with a verb to form a phrasal verb. “Dress up,” “get by,” and “put up with” are all examples of phrasal verbs.
When to End a Sentence With a Preposition
In casual circumstances, ending a sentence with a preposition is perfectly fine. Moving prepositions to their traditional positions can give sentences a formal tone. Consider these natural-sounding examples that use prepositions at the end:
What are you waiting for?
That’s the thing I was telling you about.
What are you sitting on?
If the sentences were constructed to avoid ending with the prepositions, the tone would become awkward and stilted:
For what are you waiting?
That’s the thing about which I was telling you.
On what are you sitting?
Not only are the first examples easier to understand, but they also sound similar to how people talk. A famous story, often misattributed to Winston Churchill, illustrates this: In summary, a superior once told a subordinate never to end a sentence with a preposition. The employee replied, “This is a thing up with which I will not put!”
In separating the phrasal verb “put up with” to avoid ending the sentence with a preposition, the statement is far more awkward and nonsensical. In cases like these, keeping the preposition at the end helps the sentence flow more smoothly and make sense to the reader.
When to Avoid Ending a Sentence With a Preposition
Hanging prepositions are a tricky proposition best avoided.
Where are you at? → Where are you?
Let’s go later on. → Let’s go later.
What time is the movie at? → What time is the movie?
In these cases, either the preposition is used without an object, or the meaning is clear without the ending preposition. It’s correct to delete the preposition since it does not add any meaning to the sentence.
When the writing is not casual, sometimes it’s best to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. For example, in formal, business, or academic writing, it’s wise to rework sentences to avoid ending prepositions. While it’s no longer a strict rule, the writing can seem more polished and professional.
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