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Ethanw Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
run out of
Please advise if all the following questions are correct. My confusion is that if a question starts with where, which is an adverb, can it end with a verb + preposition?
1. Where did the people come from?
2. Where did the people run out of ?
3. Where did they go to?
4. Where are you looking at?
1. Where did the people come from?
2. Where did the people run out of ?
3. Where did they go to?
4. Where are you looking at?
Top answer
A few people do get concerned about "dangling" prepositions at the end of a sentence. But it's quite natural in spoken English, and I think most people would regard it as acceptable in written English as well. ").
- A few people do get concerned about "dangling" prepositions at the end of a sentence.
- But it's quite natural in spoken English, and I think most people would regard it as acceptable in written English as well.
- ").
- If you really want to avoid dangling prepositions, you could re-write them as follows: From where did the people come?
- From where did the people run out?
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6 Answers
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A few people do get concerned about "dangling" prepositions at the end of a sentence. But it's quite natural in spoken English, and I think most people would regard it as acceptable in written English as well. Winston Churchill gave a scathing rebuke to someone who criticised the use of dangling prepositions by responding:
"That is the kind of English up with which we will not put!"
"That is the kind of English up with which we will not put!"
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Thank you, BruceInUK.
But to my understanding, an adverb can not be preceeded by a preposition. While you don't say: They went to there, is that OK for you to say: To where did they go? As a student of English, I was taught to believe 'To where did they go?' is grammatically wrong, as an adverb (where) can not be preceeded by a preposition (to). However it's quite common to say: You can g
But to my understanding, an adverb can not be preceeded by a preposition. While you don't say: They went to there, is that OK for you to say: To where did they go? As a student of English, I was taught to believe 'To where did they go?' is grammatically wrong, as an adverb (where) can not be preceeded by a preposition (to). However it's quite common to say: You can g
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>(although in the last one, it would be more natural to write "What are you looking at?").
I agree.
I agree.
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Hi,
1. Where did the people come from?
'Where' here is a pronoun, not an adverb. It means 'what place'.
Best wishes, Clive
1. Where did the people come from?
'Where' here is a pronoun, not an adverb. It means 'what place'.
Best wishes, Clive
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Hi, Clive.
Thank you for reply. I understand now. Taking 'where' as a pronoun, is that nature to say:
Where did the people run out of ?
Where did the people go to?
Or 'where as a pronoun' is only applicable to Where did the people come from?
Thank you for reply. I understand now. Taking 'where' as a pronoun, is that nature to say:
Where did the people run out of ?
Where did the people go to?
Or 'where as a pronoun' is only applicable to Where did the people come from?
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Hi again,
Where did the people run out of ?
Where did the people go to?
These are fine.
Best wishes, Clive
Where did the people run out of ?
Where did the people go to?
These are fine.
Best wishes, Clive
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