2....Behind the Preposition "At"

Hello, Everyone! Wow, I've heard from many of you about this next problem. It seems this one has become so common that it's heard all over the place. When many of us were growing up, we were bound to be corrected by our English teachers, parents, ministers, and plenty of other adults if we said something such as, " Where's the ball AT?"

Before we could correct ourselves, we would hear, "It's behind the preposition AT," accompanied by many groans as we protested from under our breaths that we hadn't learned this rule yet.


Actually, there are some pretty funny stories about the misuse of this one and how there ARE some exceptions to the rule--another thing that makes our English language so difficult at times. How did all of this confusion begin?


Once upon a time, there was an eighteenth-century English clergyman named Robert Lowth who wrote the first grammar book and in which he proclaimed that


PREPOSITIONS SHOULD NEVER END A SENTENCE !


This antiquated rule was eventually addressed by the very famous Sir Winston Churchill. He was asked once whether there was ever a time when prepositions could be used to end a sentence, such as in the following sentence:


"This is the one which I cannot find the answer FOR."


Churchill then joked, "Overzealous grammarians are people whom I will not
put [up]."

Sounds pretty silly, doesn't it? Churchill loved making fun of this rule and constantly and deliberately wrote many sentences purposely ending them with a preposition rather than try to come up with a clumsy alternative. Obviously, saying "Overzealous grammarians are people whom I will not put up WITH," is perfectly good English and makes sense with no confusion. Of course, other options are possible, such as " I will not put up with overzealous grammarians."

Ok, then, why should we even worry about ANY prepositions ending sentences? The answer is that we have a constantly changing and living language that allows certain exceptions to older rules, most often due to constant usage. Modern English has evolved to the place today where, although some prepositions are fine to use for ending sentences, others are not( yet).

First, let's clarify exactly what a preposition is.

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in a sentence. Prepositions also express space, time, and other relationships in a sentence. If this still sounds a little confusing, try this trick to clarify what one is.

Here's the simple example sentence: The airplane went _________ the cloud. Think of all the words that would fit into the blank:

over, in, at, around, under, to, toward, into, through, below, against, across, from, beside, past, near, beneath, etc.

All of the above words would fit into the blank and make sense. This DOESN'T mean that every single preposition would do so--some would be a stretch.

Prepositions such as: from, about, like, since, until, without, etc. would sound a little strange in that sentence, but, I hope, you can see a kind of pattern with the types of words that are prepositions.

ONE NOTE: Prepositions are a part of something called prepositional phrases. This means that they do not "stand alone", but have an object (or noun or pronoun) with them. Many times they also contain one or more adjectives.

Examples: aboard the train, over the hill, under the bridge, until midnight, beneath ground, through traffic, etc.

This all brings us to what is still unacceptable TODAY as Standard English:

Don't say " Where's the car AT?" or "Where are you going TO?".
Say, "Where's the car?" or "Where are you going?"

Nevertheless, there's nothing wrong with saying, "I don't know where Whitley will end UP" or "That's the strangest movie I've ever run ACROSS."


Well, that's it for today, folks. I appreciate your comments. Have a great week and be a Grammar Star!

With warmest regards,
Grammar Guide