| 词组 | preposition at end |
| 释义 | preposition at end The question of the correctness of a preposition at the end of a sentence or clause is one which has been under discussion for more than three centuries. As is not the case with some of the other long-lived topics examined in this book, recent commentators—at least since Fowler 1926—are unanimous in their rejection of the notion that ending a sentence with a preposition is an error or an offense against propriety. Fowler terms the idea a "cherished superstition." And not only do the commentators reject the notion, but actual usage supports their rejection. So if everybody who is in the know agrees, there's no problem, right? Wrong. Thank you for your reply to my questions but I find it extremely difficult to trust an opinion on grammar prepared by someone who ends a sentence with a preposition. This is part of a letter received by one of our editors who had answered some questions for the writer. Members of the never-end-a-sentence-with-a-preposition school are still with us and are not reluctant to make themselves known: • Some time ago I ended a column with the observation that sportscaster John Madden had better be respected "because he is too big to argue with." To my dismay, that sentence provoked at least a dozen reproachful letters saying that I had violated "one of the oldest rules" of good writing, and that I was providing a poor example to the young. Alas, I had ended a sentence with a preposition —Mary Pat Flaherty, Pittsburgh Press, 28 Apr. 1985 And, lest you think the true believers are made up only of the sort of people who write letters to the editor, a full twenty percent of the Harper 1975 usage panel—people who are professional writers—believed the preposition at the end was an error. Where did this "cherished superstition" come from? It seems to have originated with the 17th-century English poet, playwright, and essayist John Dryden. In 1672 Dryden wrote a piece of criticism called "Defence of the Epilogue," the main purpose of which was to demonstrate that the English used by writers of Dry-den's time was superior to that of an earlier generation of writers. The writers Dryden talks chiefly about are Shakespeare, Fletcher, and Jonson, and he chooses Jon-son, who had the highest reputation of the three at the time, as the one from whom to take specific examples. The italic line is from Jonson's Catiline ( 1611 ); the comment on it is Dryden's: The bodies that those souls were frighted from. The Preposition in the end of the sentence; a common fault with him, and which I have but lately observ'd in my own writings. Dryden at some time later in his career went back over his own works and revised the final prepositions he found. We cannot be sure how Dryden developed the idea that the terminal preposition was an error, but Latin is probably involved. The construction does not exist in Latin, and Dryden claimed to have composed some of his pieces in Latin and then translated them into English—apparently for greater elegance or propriety of expression. Almost a century later Bishop Lowth 1762 dealt with the problem. He may have had the episcopal tongue partly in the cheek: • This is an idiom, which our language is strongly inclined to: it prevails in common conversation, and suits very well with the familiar style in writing: but the placing of the preposition before the relative, is more graceful, as well as more perspicuous; and agrees much better with the solemn and elevated style. Lowth's approach is quite reasonable; clearly he cannot be blamed (as he is by Bryson 1984) for an absolutist approach to the matter. Hall 1917 says that Hugh Blair, author of a widely used book on rhetoric published in 1783, gave wide vogue to the notion that the terminal preposition must be avoided. If Blair did, then he may have passed the notion on to Lindley Murray 1795. Murray confected his very popular grammar from the works of several predecessors, including Lowth and Blair. Murray was notoriously strait-laced: he quoted Lowth's statement, but where Lowth said "which our language is strongly inclined to," Murray wrote "to which our language is strongly inclined." Even a bishop could not put a preposition at the end of a clause and satisfy Murray. To Blair and Murray we may add Noah Webster. According to Baron 1982, Webster in his 1784 grammar strongly disapproved the terminal preposition. So the 19th century began with three widely used, standard school texts formidably opposing the preposition at the end of the sentence. The topic entered the general consciousness through schoolteachers, and, as we have seen, it persists there still. Perhaps the construction was relatively new in Dryden's time, and he was reacting, as many do, to something new and obtrusive. But he did pick one out of Ben Jonson, and Shakespeare had used it too: • Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glare with—Macbeth, 1606 We also have evidence that the postponed preposition was, in fact, a regular feature in some constructions in Old English. No feature of the language can be more firmly rooted than if it survives from Old English. Evidently the whole notion of its being wrong is Dryden's invention. And what is curious is the fact that the first example Dryden picked to make his point about (the one quoted above) contains a construction in which the preposition must be put at the end—a relative clause introduced by that. Some recent commentators such as Burchfield 1981 have pointed out that there are a few constructions in which the postponed preposition is either mandatory or preferable. The restrictive clause introduced by that has required the postponing of the preposition since Old English. Here are some examples: • Sure, this must be some very notable matter that he's so angry at —George Villiers, The Rehearsal, 1672 • "Now," thought he, "I see the dangers that Mistrust and Timorous were driven back by." —John Bun-yan, Pilgrim's Progress, 1678 • Fanny could with difficulty give the smile that was here asked for —Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814 • ... owing to the restrictions of space that Mr. Belloc has contented himself with —Times Literary Supp., 20 Feb. 1937 • ... with whatever it is that good English is good for —James Sledd, in Greenbaum 1985 When the restrictive clause is a contact clause (with the relative pronoun omitted), the preposition also must come at the end: • These were some of the placid blessings I promised myself the enjoyment of —Samuel Johnson, The Idler, 10 June 1758 • ... the style I am speaking of —William Hazlitt, quoted in Bailey 1984 • ... permission to use the title they wish for —Lewis Carroll, letter, 6 Feb. 1888 • The University is one most people have heard of — Robert Frost, letter, 20 Jan. 1936 • ... to visit a guy I went to Ohio State with —James Thurber, letter, 1937 • ... the race of men she's had to deal with —E. L. Doctorow, Loon Lake, 1979 • ... something all of us can learn a thing or two from —Simon 1980 Clauses introduced by what require postponing the preposition: • ... the Court affecting what the Prince was fond of —Jonathan Swift, "A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue," 1712 • I know what you are thinking of —Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814 • "... no one would believe what she had to put up with." —James Stephens, The Crock of Gold, 1912 • ... what the small cars look like —Young America Junior Reader, 7 Mar. 1952 • That's what the taxpayers provide our salaries and buildings for —John Summerskill, quoted in Change, October 1971 Wh- clauses in general tend to have the preposition at the end: • In this letter, which I am fond of—Lady Mary Wort-ley Montague, letter, 15 Aug. 1712 • ... the reception which this proposal met with — Henry Fielding, Jonathan Wild, 1743 • ... the man whom mamma gave a tremendous hiding to last spring —Henry Adams, letter, 9 Dec. 1860 • ... aspects of Army life which I delight in —Edward Weeks, Atlantic, December 1952 • ... people ... whom you would like to dine with — Archibald MacLeish, letter, 13 Sept. 1954 • ... a pitch which the New York batter ... swung at —E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime, 1975 Wh- questions usually have the preposition postponed: • ... what does it shape up to? —Hermann J. Wei-gand, PMLA, June 1952 • ... What else are they for? —Trimble 1975 • "And what are they made of?" Alice asked —Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865 • Whom is that literature about? —Earl Shorris, TV. Y. Times Book Rev., 1 July 1984 Infinitive clauses have the preposition at the end: • He had enough money to settle down on —James Joyce, Dubliners, 1914 • ... should have had a paragraph all to himself to die in —Leacock 1943 • The peculiarities of legal English are often used as a stick to beat the official with —Gowers 1948 • ... it is difficult to find a name for —Lionel Trilling, Partisan Rev., September-October 1940 Burchfield also mentions two other constructions. One is the passive: • None of them ... has yet been heard of — The Intimate Notebooks of George Jean Nathan, 1932 The other is the exclamation: "What a shocking state you are in!" (Example from Burchfield). And here are a few assorted inversions, passives, and other constructions in which the terminal preposition is idiomatic: • He had however a blotted Copy by him ..., and this the Publishers were well aware of —Jonathan Swift, A Tale of a Tub, 1710 • Albania, indeed, I have seen more of than any Englishman —Lord Byron, letter, 3 May 1810 • ... the Pretender had not gratified his enemies by getting himself put an end to —Henry Adams, letter, 3 Sept. 1863 • They probably know which shelf everything is on in the refrigerator —And More by Andy Rooney, 1982 • ... shorts, size 36, which she spent the rest of the evening crawling in and out of—Russell Baker, TV. Y. Times Mag., 29 Jan. 1984 The preposition at the end has always been an idiomatic feature of English. It would be pointless to worry about the few who believe it is a mistake. You can avoid the construction but you do so at your peril, as our final two examples show: • ... a certain cachet and authority on which others wished to capitalize on —Norman Blake, The English Language in Medieval Literature, 1977 • I never stop worrying as to with whom she's kicking up her heels now —quoted in Barnard 1979 |
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