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Subject:Re: Prepositions at the end of a sentence From:Janice Gelb <janiceg -at- MARVIN -dot- ENG -dot- SUN -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 21 Jul 1998 11:58:57 -0700
Mike Christie wrote"
>
> Right. The rule was a result of the imposition of the rules on Latin grammar
> onto English early on in the history of the language. It makes sense in
> Latin, where word order is dictated not by grammar but by your emphasis.
> Hence, words that are central to your message go at the beginning and end of
> the sentence, while things like prepositions are relegated to the middle. It
> doesn't always make sense to follow the rule in English.
>
While I agree that it can sometimes make sentences unnecessarily
awkward to *always* avoid ending a sentence with a preposition,
I have found in my editing that often a sentence is clearer if
this rule is followed, since it moves the preposition closer to
the words to which it applies.
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Janice Gelb | The only connection Sun has with this
janice -dot- gelb -at- eng -dot- sun -dot- com | message is the return address. http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8018/index.html
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