# Can prepositions be used at the end of a sentence? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823 "2004-03-17T07:36:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/21 "2004-03-17T13:37:54Z")
Grammar experts dropped the “rule” against ending a sentence with a preposition in the 1970s, if not earlier.\* It’s been high school English teachers that keep repeating the rule. Many of them have no real training in modern grammar. You should feel free to end a sentence with a preposition. Joycelyn Elders lost her job because she didn’t.\*\* \*Technically, no one ever ends a sentence with a preposition (even in **FriendRob’s** example. What most people think are prepositions are merely a particle (usually of a verb). The verbs “to put,” “to put up,” and “to put up with” have different meanings because of the use of the particles – which are an essential part of the two- or three-word verbs, since they change the meaning. \*\*Elders, when asked about masturbation, said, “This is something that should be taught.” She meant, “This is something that should be taught about,” a much less controversial statement. The former gives some very bizarre images. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/22 "2004-03-17T14:38:45Z")
For some reason, a sentence ending with a prepostion looks odd to me on the page. Even though it feels perfectly natural and is technically correct, I would venture to say alot of people try to work around it for fear of seeming stupid to people who are ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/23 "2004-03-17T15:17:38Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > For some reason, a sentence ending with a prepostion looks odd to me on the page. I suspect that’s because in English, we usually want a preposition to lead to a direct object. That’s why in some cases, ending a sentence with a preposition can lead to momentary confusion; the first word of the following sentence might be mistaken for that missing direct object. But that’s only happened to me when I’ve structured my thoughts badly to begin with–restructuring the thoughts takes care of any ambiguity. \*With the em dash, it’s very doubtful that someone would ever misread my words as “to begin with restructuring.” If I wanted to eliminate even that tiny chance, I could rewrite the sentence to say: “…badly from the start–restructuring…” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/24 "2004-03-17T19:22:02Z")
> [@](#): > > “Thou shalt not end a sentence with a preposition.” is one of those monumentally stupid prescriptive grammarian rules imposed by monumentally stupid prescriptive grammarians in an attempt to “Latinize” English. I’ve noticed a trend, that whenever people encounter a putative rule of English with which they disagree, they generally just blame it on long-dead scholars who tried to Latinize the language. While there’s a slim chance that this might conceivably be true of the split infinitive rule, it’s certainly not the case for the ending preposition rule, since _Latin has no rules for word order_! Changing the order of the words in a sentence can change the emphasis of the sentence, but not the meaning. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/25 "2004-03-17T19:39:15Z")
The latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style gives the lie–again–to the schoolmarmish superstition that one should never end a sentence with a preposition. It’s perfectly OK in spoken English and in written dialogue, but in formal writing it’s alright to err on the side of NOT doing so; as long as you don’t have to tie the sentence in knots to keep the preposition out of danger. (Chicago also permits beginning a sentence with a conjunction.) ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/26 "2004-03-17T19:45:39Z")
Not to be a smart ass, I honestly want to know. You said > [@](#): > > Latin has no rules for word order! Changing the order of the words in a sentence can change the emphasis of the sentence, but not the meaning. Does that mean that “In Vino Veritas” means the same thing as “In Veritas Vino” but with different emphasis? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/27 "2004-03-17T19:50:35Z")
> [@aurelian](#): > > it is now acceptable to end a sentence in a preposition You mean “a preposition is now something that is acceptable to end a sentence with” ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/28 "2004-03-17T20:17:23Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Does that mean that “In Vino Veritas” means the same thing as “In Veritas Vino” but with different emphasis? I don’t know either but I do love a good wine when the truth is picked just at the cusp of the equinox. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823/29 "2004-03-17T20:17:40Z")
Latin did have rules for word order, but they were far more flexible than in English. Most of these rules had to do with shifting emphasis. AFAIK, though, prepositions were supposed to precede their object – thus the name **pre** position. Since prepositions did not decline, they could not match their object in case, number and gender. Thus the importance of keeping them together. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-prepositions-be-used-at-the-end-of-a-sentence/234823.md?page=1)