In which aisle

[irinaofr]

In which aisle is mayonnaise?
In which aisle are pickles/eggs/yogurts?

Are these correct questions, please?


Thank you.

 

[GoesStation]

They're grammatically correct except that yogurt isn't usually used as a countable noun. It would be more natural to ask Which aisle is mayonnaise/yogurt in? Which aisle are pickles/eggs in?

Your teachers may tell you to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Don't listen to that advice.

 

[irinaofr]

Yes, that is the thing (about preposition in the end)! I thought I could ask this way.

As for yougurt- sure, I am aware of that, but thought of a pack of yougurt and thought I could use it in plural. Still not?

Thanks.

 

[GoesStation]

I wouldn't be shocked to hear someone ask their kids (thinking about individual yogurt containers) Did you get your yogurts? But it doesn't sound natural in the supermarket context.

 

[emsr2d2]

On a practical level, you're unlikely to find eggs, yoghurt and pickles in the same aisle (at British supermarkets).

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, that is the thing (about preposition in the end)! I thought I could ask this way.

It's grammatically correct to ask In which aisle is the yogurt? No native speaker would ever phrase the question that way, though, except in a play or film set in the 19th century. Long ago, some self-appointed authorities on English usage decided that sentences should not end in prepositions. They succeeded in convincing many generations of English teachers that this was so. It isn't; it's the sort of advice up with which confident speakers do not put*.


*That last sentence is intentionally awkward to point out the folly of the supposed rule we're discussing.

 

[emsr2d2]

Most of us probably wouldn't say either "In which aisle is the yoghurt?" or "Which aisle is the yoghurt in?" I would say "Where's the yoghurt?" The answer will probably be "[In] aisle xxx".

 

[Barb_D]

Sometimes I ask the store employee this way: If I were olive oil, where would I be?
Or "If I were on a desperate mission to find the pasta aisle, which direction should I go?"

It usually makes them smile, and they say something like, "Aisle 13, left side, near the bottom" or "Almost there - aisle after next."

 

[GoesStation]

When I ask, they usually say "Right in front of you!"

 

[Rover_KE]

When I ask, they usually say "Right in front of you!"

Thank God I'm not the only one that happens to!

 

[irinaofr]

It's the sort of advice which confident speakers do not put up with?

Thanks!

 

[GoesStation]

It's the sort of advice which confident speakers do not put up with?

Yes, exactly.

 

[irinaofr]

....who that happens to.
....to whom that happens.



That is my reply to Rover's "Thank God I'm not the only one that happens to!"

 

[GoesStation]

....who that happens to.
....to whom that happens.



That is my reply to Rover's "Thank God I'm not the only one that happens to!"

We rarely use whom nowadays except when it immediately follows a preposition, so both of your proposed phrases are OK.