Noun + infinitive + prep.

Question

1) Seoul is a good place to live. (wrong) 2) Seoul is a good place to live in.  (correct) As far as I know, in case the infinitive is vi, prep should be added. However, I found out 2) in a middle school textbook recently. Which one is correct ?? Thanks Terry

TrysB · Accepted Answer

Hi Terry,
In my opinion, sentence one is OK for informal AmE and commonly used in conversation:

This apartment is a good place to live because it is close to the subway.

Beijing is a good place to live except for the smog.

I would not call sentence one wrong, although technically it is because the infinitive is to live in, not to live. The battle between popular speech and grammatical speech will never end. To me the important thing is to get your meaning across and secondarily to make your speech flow nicely. To do that sometimes you have to break the 'rules'.

How about: It is good to live in hope of a better tomorrow! That's a good place to live [in]!

Yours for linguistic fun,
TrysB

CalifJim · Answer

I accept both versions with the verb live.

CJ

Nddad · Answer

Thank you very much.

Terry

Nddad · Answer

Thank you very much. Terry

Xavierry · Answer

I also agree. That's because I don't have any uneasiness while reading the first sentence. I find second sentence as a bit odd. However, both sentences convey the right message for its readers. So I have no problems about it.

Noun + infinitive + prep.

1) Seoul is a good place to live. (wrong)

2) Seoul is a good place to live in. (correct)

As far as I know, in case the infinitive is vi, prep should be added. However, I found out 2) in a middle school textbook recently.

Which one is correct ??

Thanks

Terry

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