How do you feel about ending sentences with prepositions?

Question

I hate it when people say "Where is my coat at" "Where is the remote at" "Do you know where my shoes are at" UGH! Does this annoying anyone but me?

Answer 1

I loved the joke where the daughter complains to the mother about ending a sentence like "Where is the remote at?" with a preposition. Then the mother rephrases it as "Where is the remote at, b****?"

Ending with a preposition is poor grammar but not the worst of the annoying possibilities.

Answer 2

I don't have a problem with prepositions at the end of the sentence if it makes the sentence clearer. Think of the famous Winston Churchill quote: "This is the kind of impertinence up with which I shall not put," which he said to indicate that trying to avoid prepositions at the end of sentences can often lead to very convoluted prose.

In the examples that you mentioned, the speaker can simply remove "at" because it is unecessary. "Where is my coat," "Where is the remote (control)," and "Do you know where my shoes are" are better clearer and more concise.

A better example where you might want to actually use a preposition at the end of the sentence would be: "When you buy your new dictionary, what words are you going to look up." This is more clear than "When you buy your new dictionary, you will look up which words?" which sounds stilted and unnatural.

Answer 3

I agree with luvdalz6.
I know it is grammatically incorrect, and for the most part, having a preposition dangling at the end of a sentence does not work well. However, there are those few exceptions--"To whom are you going to give that?"--when the preposition at the end would just flow better.

Answer 4

It only bothers me because of an extremely anal English teacher in the 5th grade had the same pet peeve.

She harped passionately about correct grammar and brutally enforced her preposition fetish, and subsequently I can't bring myself to end a sentence with of, in, at, etcetera.

I still have nightmares...

Answer 5

that drives me crazy
Personally i dont understand why people talk like that, but they are either doing it because;
a) they originally thought it was cool, and now it has become a bad habit, or
b) Because they are unable to gain a decent grasp of english language.

I find it very annoying. Though i tend to pitty the person saying those annoying phrases. UGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

Answer 6

Not as much as someone using using ANNOYING in the wrong context. It should have been "Does this ANNOY anyone but me?" funny how you complain about someone elses faults when you have plenty of your own to look after.

Answer 7

Prepositions at endings annoy you should not.

Glad like Yoda we all talk not should you be, yes?

Answer 8

A preposition is supposed to "govern" something,so if nothing follows, it is grammatically incorrect.

Answer 9

I know that it is ungrammatical, but most of the time, it feels comfortable.
For example, I would rather say, "Who are you going to give that to?" than the grammatically correct "To whom are you going to give that?" It sounds stuffy and British.

Answer 10

"At" is one of the worst offenders, because it's totally unnecessary in your examples, though people rarely rage at "who is she talking to?" and questions like that.

In spoken conversation, "To whom is she speaking?" can sound uppity and stupid, however. So it's all about context.

The question that grinds my beans is "Where are you headed?" I don't know where I'm "headed," but I do know where I'm going.