When Churchill was criticised for ending a sentence with a preposition, he was reported to say:
This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put!
Unfortunately, as with many great quotes, Churchill probably didn’t say this. Nevertheless, we thought we’d include it here as it provides a great jumping off point for discussing a famous grammatical ‘rule’.
The Origins of the Myth
The quote above is often used as a response to those who insist that ending a sentence with a preposition (i.e. a ‘terminal preposition’) is wrong. This is based on the idea that English should follow the same rules as Latin, in which it is impossible to end a sentence with a preposition.
Minimally, the idea is that you should not use terminal prepositions in formal writing. Compare the following sentences, for instance:
A) You are reading the book which my article was published in.
B) You are reading the book in which my article was published.
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Sentence A here ends with the preposition ‘in’, while sentence B places the preposition in the middle of the sentence. Arguably, this makes B sound more formal than A.
However, sentence A is perfectly grammatical. The reason that terminal prepositions do not exist in Latin is not because they are ‘bad writing’. It is because the rules of Latin make it impossible!
Prepositions, Ending Sentences With
In English, on the other hand, we regularly use prepositions at the end of sentences. And as shown by the quote attributed to Churchill, avoiding terminal prepositions can lead to confusing sentences!
If the phrase ‘up with which I will not put’ sounds unnatural, it’s because it should say ‘which I will not put up with’, which ends with the preposition ‘with’. The mangled version in the quote is designed to show what happens when we follow grammar ‘rules’ blindly instead of aiming for readability.
Consequently, the ‘rule’ about ending sentences with prepositions is a myth. But it’s also bad advice! Most of the time, it is fine to end a sentence with a preposition, especially if it is part of a verb phrase such as ‘put up with’. The crucial factor is ensuring your work is clear and easy to read.
And if you’re ever unsure whether you are using prepositions correctly, we’re here to help!