preposition at the end

Question

Hi,could someone tell me if this sentence is ok?This is a dictionary you can add new words to.Thanks

Yoong Liat · Accepted Answer

KooyeenHi,
could someone tell me if this sentence is ok?

This is a dictionary you can add new words to.

Thanks

Unless you're thinking of a mobile phone which allows you to add words to its vocabulary, I find this sentence a little weird.

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi,
thanks, yes, I was thinking of a kind of software... But the problem is that prepositon at the end. I know a sentence like this is perfectly ok:

I talked with the girl you talked with

...but the preposition is right after the verb. I don't know why I'm having doubts, but I was wondering if I could put an object between the verb and the prepositon at the end of a sentence. Like this:

A jack is a kind of socket you can connect a jack plug to.
An ammeter is an instrument you can measure an electric current with.

I guess it's ok to make sentences that way, but I sometimes feel so unsure...
Thanks

Cool Breeze · Answer

Hi Kooyeen

Perfect. A relative pronoun has been omitted and it is normal to put a preposition at the end:

This is a dictionary [which/that] you can add new words to.

More examples:
He is a man [who/whom/that] you can count on.
That was the book [which/that] he was looking for.

I've got a dictionary like that, the Random House Unabridged Webster's Dictionary, which I have installed on my hard drive. I can add words with their definitions if I want to.

CB

Kooyeen · Answer

Thanks CB.
Yes, the examples you gave me sound ok to me... these:

Cool BreezeMore examples:
He is a man [who/whom/that] you can count on.
That was the book [which/that] he was looking for.

As you see, in those examples the preposition is right after the verb: count on, look for. I was having doubts about sentences like the first you gave me...

This is a dictionary [which/that] you can add new words to.

...where there's an object between the verb and the particle. But now I understand, thanks. You know, sometimes I have doubts I'm not supposed to have, lol.

Cool Breeze · Answer

KooyeenThanks CB.

As you see, in those examples the preposition is right after the verb: count on, look for. I was having doubts about sentences like the first you gave me...

This is a dictionary [which/that] you can add new words to.

...where there's an object between the verb and the particle. But now I understand, thanks. You know, sometimes I have doubts I'm not supposed to have, lol.

You're welcome.

I've got my doubts as well - but I don't have any doubts about your relative clause. Of course it's possible that someone disagrees with me. That won't change my mind, though. I can be very stubborn...

Besides, it doesn't bother me a bit if someone doesn't like my views.

CB

Bokeh · Answer

The idea that a sentence should never end in a preposition dates from a time when the teaching of English was firmly based on Latin usage. However, English is not Latin and is not even one of the Latin family of languages. English is a Germanic language and in Germanic languages sentences may end in prepositions.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, upon having one of his sentences 'corrected' by an editor, retorted "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put".

CalifJim · Answer

All of these are just fine. Don't worry about prepositions at the end.

This is the sort of bucket you can put garbage in.
Who did you borrow the money from?
Is she somebody you'd like to go to a concert with?
I wonder how many people I'm going to write Christmas cards to this year.
I heard a great joke the other day. Now I just have to find someone to tell it to.
That's the guy I showed the car to. I wonder if he'll buy it.
Jane says that this spoon is the one you're supposed to mix the vegetables with.
The boss is looking for someone he can blame the mistakes on.
Is this the table I should set the box on?
That's not the project I want to apply my efforts to.
Topology is a subject she just can't get her mind around.
That's an incident we'll never hear the last of.
It was moral support that he relied on his brother for.
That was the bear that he had to defend his children against.
They've already replaced the window that Peter accidentally threw the ball through.

CJ

Ruslana · Answer

Just my two cents to all that has already been said.

KooyeenHi,
could someone tell me if this sentence is ok?

This is a dictionary you can add new words to.

Thanks

To say that way is the same as to say:

This is a dictionaty to which you can add new words.

To wit, you can take 'to' away from the end and to put it before 'which'.

Kooyeen · Answer

Thanks, thanks! Too many examples Jim!

RuslanaTo say that way is the same as to say:

This is a dictionaty to which you can add new words.

To wit, you can take 'to' away from the end and to put it before 'which'.

Yep, those are the kinds of stuctures I want to avoid by putting the preposition at the end. But I know they are ok.

Thanks Lana.

Anonymous · Answer

It is you who are to blame --------your mistakes

preposition at the end

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