An English grammar snob was sitting in a coffee shop at a railway station. A young person sitting at the same table asked the lady in a friendly tone, “Ma’am where are you going to?” The lady replied in a snobbish tone, “Young man, I don’t answer anyone who end their sentences with prepositions.” The young man looked at the snobbish teacher of English for a while and then asked her, “Where are you going to, bitch?”
Is it wrong to place a preposition at the end of a sentence? No. It is a myth that one should not end a sentence with a preposition. As long as a sentence with a preposition at the end of it sounds natural, it is fine.
Consider the following expressions:
What are you up to?
What are you interested in?
What are you good at?
Prepositions are placed at the end of the questions above. If these questions are organized in such a way that we avoid placing prepositions at the end, the questions would sound rather awkward. Here are more examples from the works of great writers:
The University is one most people have heard of.
— Robert Frost
He had enough money to settle down on.
— James Joyce
Is the question, Where are you going to? acceptable? Though Where are you going to? is acceptable in colloquial speech, Where are you going? is preferable for these reasons: i) It is most commonly used; ii) It has fewer words; and iii) It sounds natural. The question Where to? is quite acceptable in modern English.
A very common error committed by learners of English is using prepositions unnecessarily in certain phrases. Very recently, I came across these sentences:
A great new offer for those in Chennai! Go for shopping, movies and much more in comfortable OLA cabs starting at just `40 for 4 kms, thereafter pay Rs 10/km.
It is very difficult to cope up with the situation.
We have discussed about it a number of times.
In the sentences above, the prepositions for, up and about in the phrases go for shopping’, cope up with and discuss about it respectively are unnecessary and should be dropped. Go shopping, cope with and discuss it are correct phrases. Here are examples:
I went shopping without a list and wasted my time.
Let’s go shopping this evening.
The article explains how to cope with strangers.
Shall we discuss the proposal?
Ask them to discuss their tour plan and submit the report.
However, discussion is followed by the prepositions on or over as in the following examples:
The recent discussion over gay rights has been given much publicity.
He took part in the discussion on why children should not be allowed to watch the movie.
Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.
E B White
Dr albert p’ rayan is an ELT Resource Person and Professor of English