Can you put prepositions at the end of a sentence

Commentary: Federal Build Back Better legislation would have local benefits. Contact Us. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options. Grammar columnist June Casagrande writes that ending a sentence with a preposition is not an error, as noted in numerous English-language dictionaries.

By June Casagrande. More on this Subject. Opinion Apodaca: Gratitude for a group of people with an often thankless job. Opinion A Word, Please: Just what you always wanted: a refresher on family names during the holidays. A: Yes Remember this though: if your reader thinks it's wrong, it might as well be. This is not about being right. 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.

The fact is that English presents many opportunities to compose sentences that would just sound awkward if we had to rewrite them to avoid leaving a preposition at the end.

For example:. What are you waiting for? Awkward rephrasing: For what are you waiting? That is exactly what I am concerned about. Awkward rephrasing: That is exactly the thing about which I am concerned. That cake is just to die for. That about wraps things up! Awkward rephrasing that also makes it sound like we're talking about wrapping presents or something: That about wraps up things.

That is the book I was telling you about. Awkward rephrasing: That is the book about which I was telling you. I hope I've convinced you that relocating prepositions from the ends of sentences can produce some ugly writing. However, despite this rule's having no real basis in English grammar, many people continue to believe it is wrong to leave a preposition at the end of a sentence. I'll leave it up to you as to whether you want to appease these people by avoiding unnecessary dangling prepositions.

However, I will point out that, for example, one could easily rewrite the following sentences:. I've wrapped the present up. I've wrapped up the present.