Prepositions are the rebels of modern language.

A friend recently said they were really disappointed that I ended a sentence with a preposition.

Mind you, this sentence was written in a text message. Apparently we're a very literate texting crowd. (IMHO, Lol!)

This isn't the first time I've heard this. But this friend is quite intelligent and a very good writer--the kind of very good writer that knows rules and is willing to feel disappointed in my lack of abiding by them. But I'm a rebel in life--I've been known to read in dim lighting and eat saturated fats--so I'm not afraid to be a wannabe anarchist when it comes to prepositions.

See, ending a sentence with a preposition is acceptable. Really. Don't believe me? Mignon Fogarty runs the Grammar Girl website (a website that, as its name subtly suggests, deals with grammar), and she agrees. (Mignon was also on Oprah back in 2007. If Oprah has you on her show then your word is law in a variety of states and PTA meetings.) In fact, ending a sentence with a preposition is entirely acceptable in almost all cases.

Her example asks which of the following sounds better?

What did you step on?

or

On what did you step?

Sure, we can say the latter--and, by all means, it's great that you want to talk as if you live in the 15th century and curtsy whenever you say hello to someone--but modern conventions stipulate placing the preposition at the end of the sentence.

The only time when a preposition isn't acceptable at the end of a sentence? As Mignon points out, only a sentence like That's where it's at is flawed. Why? Because the preposition at repeats the conjunction it's. You could just as well say That's where it is.

So, by all means, if you fancy talking and writing as if you're the Sheriff of Nottingham, feel free--banish those prepositions deep inside your sentences. But if you want to feel a little rebellious for [not even really coming close to] breaking a rule and place an "it" at the end of a sentence, well, hey, go for it.



Note: Is "Mignon" possibly the most underrated name in all of human history? I'm just throwing it out there. But if I could name myself after a steak, I'd rather be called T-Bone.