Putting prepositions at last

[GuilhermeRM]

Hello; I've got a question upon putting prepositions. As in sentences like ''We have much to be thankful
for'' and ''she came close by'', I ought to fill with prepositions?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello; I've got a question [STRIKE]upon[/STRIKE] about [STRIKE]putting[/STRIKE] using prepositions. [STRIKE]As[/STRIKE] In sentences like ''We have much to be thankful for'' and ''She came close by'', should I [STRIKE]ought[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] fill ​them with prepositions?

Where would you like to put another preposition in those sentences?

 

[SoothingDave]

If you mean "can I end a sentence with a preposition?" then yes, you can. Many older grammarians advised against this, but it is really not a rule and leads to silly circumlocutions like "That is something up with which I can not put."

 

[emsr2d2]

I apologise for not having realised what you meant from your thread title. You will probably still hear that a preposition should not be the last word of a sentence, but that is nonsense.

This led to the amusing wording of this non-rule: "A preposition is a word you should not end a sentence with".

 

[WilliamRota]

May I cut those preposition off the sentence? :-?

 

[emsr2d2]

May I cut those preposition off the sentence? :-?

Can you remove them completely? Yes and no.

She came close. :tick: In fact, that is an improvement on "She came close by". "She was close by" is OK.

We have much to be thankful. :cross:

 

[SoothingDave]

May I cut those preposition off the sentence? :-?

Not as a general rule. In some cases the prepositions are necessary; in others, superfluous.