Here we have another myth, which I briefly mentioned in the section on prepositions: Never end a sentence or clause with a preposition. Actually, a sound rule would urge you to avoid ending sentences or clauses with prepositions in formal settings, as long as you don’t end up writing awkward sentences. Following the rule, we would write.
For today’s Grammar Time, we’ll be discussing ending sentences with prepositions.Were you ever taught that ending a sentence with a preposition was a big no-no? Unfortunately for all the English teachers out there, this “rule” is actually a myth. But if this isn’t actually a rule, why have generations of teachers drilled their students on it, and where did it originate? Origin of the MythHundreds of years ago, English was considered the language of the common man (and was considered less desirable), while Latin was the language of the elite and the educated. When early grammar books for the English language were published, their authors often decided that English should follow Latin’s supposedly superior grammar rules.This particular myth about prepositions was started by a 17th-century English poet named John Dryden.
His argument was that since Latin doesn’t allow prepositions at the end of sentences, English sentences shouldn’t end with prepositions either. Perpetuating the MythAs a result, generations of schoolchildren were taught that sentences like “To whom did you give the book?” were correct, proper English, while sentences like “Who(m) did you give the book to?” were incorrect and ungrammatical.