Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Basics: Dangling Prepositions

"Who are you going with?"

"Which box did you put it in?"

"Who's the letter addressed to?"

Do the above sound perfectly correct to you?  Well, they're not.  They're certainly accepted in everyday speech, and it's fine if your characters talk that way.  But each of the above is technically incorrect, because each one ends with a preposition devoid of its object.  In short, it "dangles."

(Side note:  If you were never forced to memorize your prepositions, DO IT NOW.  I had to memorize them in seventh grade, and I've never forgotten them.)

When using prepositions, they must always -- ALWAYS -- be followed by their objects.  They may not stand alone.  (Remember, too, that certain prepositions can be used as other parts of speech, so it's important to understand HOW they're being used before assuming they're prepositions.)

Here is the CORRECT way to write the three examples above:

"With whom are you going?"  (Preposition WITH followed by its object WHOM)

"In which box did you put it?"  (Preposition IN followed by its object BOX [which = modifier])

"To whom is the letter addressed?"  (Preposition TO followed by its object WHOM)

My above examples are all interrogative (questions), which doesn't need to be the case for this rule to apply:

"I'll let you know for whom to ask at the front door."  (Preposition FOR followed by its object WHOM)

Got it?

And as an added bonus, here are the prepositions for you to memorize.  *grin*

aboard
about
above
across
after
against
along
among
around
at

before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
but
by

down
during

except

for
from

in
into

like

near

of
off
on
onto
over

past

since

through
throughout
to
toward

under
underneath
until
unto
up
upon

with
within
without

6 comments:

  1. Out of curiosity, is this one of the rules that it's acceptable to break, like using the correct form of the subjunctive? While I know that it's technically incorrect to form sentences with a dangling preposition (and I never do it in school papers), it sounds...really awkward in anything except for formal writing--to me, at least, though I'm guessing I'm not the only one.
    ~Becca

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  2. Well, yeah, and that's why I mentioned it's okay for your characters to talk with dangling prepositions, because we pretty much ALL talk that way. As for the narrative, I think it depends on voice. If your novel is written in 1st person, it may be much more natural for your narrator to use the dangling prepositions. But in ANY kind of formal writing (like your school papers) or third person narrative (for the most part; again, with voice being key), I believe it's important to avoid the very informal dangling preposition.

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  3. Once upon a time, I had those memorized.

    *guilty look*

    I don't any more. I'd best get on that. *cough*

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  4. I try to remember prepositions with the old trick: What position actions a fox can take with a log. Kooky, but it works.

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  5. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Ending sentences with a preposition is perfectly acceptable, so says both the Chicago and Columbia manuals of style. Please, do some research before giving out erroneous information to impressionable minds.

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  6. It is therefore fortunate that Chicago and Columbia styles are the only two styles in use. :)

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