used to x used for

[beachboy]

Pens are used to write
Pens are used for writing

Are both sentences right?

 

[MrPedantic]

Hello BB,

#2 is fine. For #1, it would be more usual to say:

1. Pens are used to write with.

Best wishes,

MrP

 

[stuartnz]

Pens are used to write
Pens are used for writing

Are both sentences right?

I'm not an English teacher, but the answer to your question is definitely yes. Both sentences are correct. In the case of the first sentence, you would often see or hear "pens are used to write with", a usage which, although natural and grammatical in standard English, is frowned on by some who adhere to an arbitrary rule invented in the 18th century which says that sentences should not end with a preposition.

 

[beachboy]

Pens are used to write with.
I'm curious: is the word with considered a preposition in the example above, or it becomes a particle?
And, wow, would those people in the eighteenth century frown on a sentence like "That's the girl I was talking about"?

 

[stuartnz]

Pens are used to write with.
I'm curious: is the word with considered a preposition in the example above, or it becomes a particle?
And, wow, would those people in the eighteenth century frown on a sentence like "That's the girl I was talking about"?

Sorry for the distraction. It is or was a silly and pointless rule, without foundation in English grammar, much like the equally inane prohibition on splitting infinitives. At least the stricture against sentence-ending prepositions has given us an amusing quote. I've most often seen it attributed to Sir Winston Churchill: "that is a rule up with which I shall not put." :-o

 

[MrPedantic]

Hello BB,

Yes, I would call "with" a preposition in the sentence "Pens are used to write with".

Since it lacks a direct complement, it would serve as an example of "prepositional stranding".

Best wishes,

MrP