What for/with whom

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.
Can I use a question word and a preposition in the middle of a sentence?
1. 'My friends with whom I work.'
2. 'She didn't understand what for I was telling her that.'

 

[Rachel Adams]

1. is not a complete sentence.
2. is incorrect. You need 'why', not 'what for'.

The words you are talking about are not 'question words' in this use.

To make it a complete sentence I added.
'My friends with whom I work are from Italy.'
Can I use it in the middle of a sentence?

 

[GoesStation]

To make it a complete sentence I added.
'My friends, with whom I work, are from Italy.'
Can I use it in the middle of a sentence?

Yes, but this one needs the commas I added above. This is grammatical: The friends with whom I work are from Italy.

However, that sentence is terribly stuffy in any register of contemporary English. Just say The friends I work with are from Italy.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Yes, but this one needs the commas I added above. This is grammatical: The friends with whom I work are from Italy.

However, that sentence is terribly stuffy in any register of contemporary English. Just say The friends I work with are from Italy.

So 'My friends, with whom I work, are from Italy' isn't grammatical. What exactly makes it ungrammatical? I didn't add the commas. I thought the information with whom I work was important.
Interesting if The friends whom I work with is also possible.

 

[GoesStation]

So 'My friends, with whom I work, are from Italy' isn't grammatical. What exactly makes it ungrammatical? I didn't add the commas. I thought the information with whom I work was important.
Interesting if The friends whom I work with is also possible.

It's grammatical with the commas that I added. Sorry I wasn't clear.

The friends whom I work with is another grammatical but stuffily old-fashioned version.

 

[Rachel Adams]

It's grammatical with the commas that I added. Sorry I wasn't clear.

The friends whom I work with is another grammatical but stuffily old-fashioned version.

Sorry, to annoy you but is it possible not to use commas? Why are they necessary? Doesn't it depend on the speaker's attitude? If the information is necessary, I don't use them.

 

[emsr2d2]

Commas don't depend on anyone's attitude! However, I would agree that they're optional.

The friends with whom I work are from Italy.
The friends, with whom I work, are from Italy. (This would necessitate those "friends" having been mentioned previously. Otherwise, you would start with "My friends".)

 

[GoesStation]

This sentence is wrong:

My friends with whom I work are from Italy.

If you add two commas, it's grammatical but heavy:

My friends, with whom I work, are from Italy.

 

[Phaedrus]

Sorry, to annoy you but is it possible not to use commas? Why are they necessary? Doesn't it depend on the speaker's attitude? If the information is necessary, I don't use them.

What you have come up against here is a restriction against using restrictive relative clauses to modify possessive noun phrases.

To use a restrictive relative clause, you need to change [strike]my friends with whom I work[/strike] to the friends of mine with whom I work.

The restriction is anything but easy to explain. If I were to try to do so, I would study this article first. It's not an article for learners.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Commas don't depend on anyone's attitude! However, I would agree that they're optional.

The friends with whom I work are from Italy.
The friends, with whom I work, are from Italy. (This would necessitate those "friends" having been mentioned previously. Otherwise, you would start with "My friends".)

So in modern English prepositions are usually used at the end of a sentence. You don't use them at the beginning either
For example, 'What do you play billiards with?' Is a standard question but 'What with do you play billiards?' is not. Right?

 

[emsr2d2]

So in modern English prepositions are usually used at the end of a sentence. You don't use them at the beginning either.
For example, 'What do you play billiards with?' is a standard question but 'What with do you play billiards?' is not. Right?

There are two ways to ask that question:

1. What do you play billiards with?
2. With what do you play billiards?

So, as you can see, we can put the preposition at the beginning of the sentence. You are right that starting with "What with" is incorrect.


Having said that, I'm just going to throw this into the mix because you would definitely hear it in British English:

Helen: I'm having veggie burgers for dinner tonight.
Sarah: With what?
Helen: Chips, probably.

Helen: I'm having veggie burgers for dinner tonight.
Sarah: What with?
Helen: Chips, probably.

As you can see, "What with?" is used by native speakers as a standalone question.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Thank you very much.

Perhaps in the similar way you ask:
1. What are you thinking about?
2. About what are you thinking?
As a standalone question: What about?

 

[GoesStation]

Perhaps in [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] a similar way you ask:
1. What are you thinking about?
2. About what are you thinking?
As a standalone question: What about?

Yes, but again, sentence 2 is grammatical but awkward. It's usually much more natural to put the preposition at the end. This changes in a long, complex question where it can become difficult to determine what the preposition refers to.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you very much.

Perhaps in the similar way you ask:
1. What are you thinking about?
2. About what are you thinking?
As a standalone question: What about?

"What about?" would be an appropriate standalone question in response to a statement such as "I'm thinking". The response could equally be "About what?"