A few months ago, I wrote about why you shouldn’t follow the made-up rule to never start a sentence with and or but. This week, I’m defying your grade-school teacher again.
You’ve likely heard the old-fashioned maxim to never end a sentence in a preposition (such as after, at, before, for, in or through). Although adhering to this practice is generally a good idea because it makes your writing tighter and smoother, there are exceptions.
Sometimes, it’s just plain awkward to rewrite a sentence this way. In fact, there are times when doing so is “something up with which I will not put!” (Although this quote is credited to Winston Churchill, some say it’s a misattribution.)
Here are a few examples of when it might make sense to end in a preposition:
1. Should you get the MacBook? It depends on what you’re looking for.
“Depends on for what you are looking” would have sounded wordy and unnatural. Another possibility would be to use a different verb: It depends on what you need.
2. I need to find a topic to write about.
Rephrasing this might result in awkward constructions.
3. The researchers asked the participants where the sound was coming from.
“From where the sound was coming” sounds stilted.
But your teacher did have a point
That said, the preposition “rule” does have some merit because it often makes for a clearer, tighter sentence. Here are a couple of examples:
Wordy: That’s the door you should use to exit out of.
Better: Exit through that door.
Wordy: The sun is the object Earth orbits around.
Better: Earth orbits the sun.
Wondering which rules are OK to break and when it’s appropriate to do so? Send your questions my way!
In the Margins 