Can You End a Sentence With a Preposition? Yes, You Can!

Break free of the linguistic shackles, cast aside hundreds of years of forced formality, and join us as we explore why you can end a sentence with a preposition whenever you like.  

What’s this nonsense all about? 

Grammar snobs love to tell anyone who’ll listen that you should NEVER end a sentence with a preposition. But we’re not in the 1800s anymore boys and girls, and if words like LOL and FOMO can become an everyday part of our written language, then by Jove, we’re going to end a sentence with a preposition.  

What is a preposition? 

A preposition is a word, and usually a very small and common word, that tells you where or when something is in relation to something else. Words like on, before, above, into and from are all common examples of prepositions, but there are also many more.  

Here are a couple of very simple examples of prepositions used in sentences: 

• ‘The hat was on her head’ - The preposition ‘on’ describes location 

• ‘The film starts in 30 minutes’ - The preposition ‘in’ describes time 

Can you end a sentence with a preposition? 

Some grammar pedants suggest that ending a sentence with a preposition such as of, to or with is incorrect. However, this is a false rule and there’s nothing to suggest that ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong. In fact, nearly all modern style guides say that if your sentence sounds more natural with a preposition at the end, then you should go right ahead.  

For example, you can say and write:  

• What did you step on? (preposition ‘on’ at the end of the sentence) 

Rather than 

• On what did you step? (only the dimmest aristocrats speak like that) 

Or: 

• Who are you going out with? (preposition ‘with’ at the end of the sentence)  

Rather than  

• With whom are you going out? (ridiculous) 

  
  

When shouldn’t you end a sentence with a preposition? 

While you’re usually fine to use prepositions at the end of sentences, you shouldn’t end a sentence with an unnecessary preposition, and you should avoid using unnecessary prepositions altogether. For example, ‘where are you at?’ is a horrible way to use a preposition. There’s no need to include the ‘at’ at all. ‘Where are you?’ is much better.