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ESL forum >
Techniques and methods in Language Teaching > Need help with prepositions
Need help with prepositions
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LittleSunshine11
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Need help with prepositions
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Dear everyone,
One of my students asked my this and I couldn �t really answer. Can you help me?
I know the rule that we should not end a sentence in a preposition, but this rule doesn �t seem to apply here.
Why do we say "Be quiet, you will wake every body up" and not "you will wake up everybody"? How can I explain this to my student, what is the rule or the structure here? Are there similar examples?
Thanks for your help 
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14 Oct 2013
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cunliffe
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I thought that �rule � was long gone! Don �t worry about it, I doubt if many English people do. �You will wake everybody up � is the best way of saying it. You could say, �You will wake up everybody �, if you were wanting to emphasise absolutely everybody, otherwise it doesn �t sound right. |
14 Oct 2013
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ueslteacher
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You shouldn �t end the sentence with a preposition in formal language, say, if you �re writing an article/essay/report, etc., but in spoken language it �s perfectly fine. Also, it refers to clauses like, e.g. This is the man I had an argument with (informal); This is the man with whom I had an argument (formal)
Now, your sentence has a phrasal verb to wake smb up, and the verb takes a direct object. When a direct object is a pronoun, it has to be placed before the preposition, if it�s not a pronoun, it can be placed before or after the preposition.
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14 Oct 2013
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monder78
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wake sb up. If you �re not sure try to say a word aloud in any sentence and in many cases it may help , for example we will say wake me up.Ueslteacher gave you the exact , very precise explanation. Thank you ueslteacher.You�re incredible ;) |
14 Oct 2013
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yanogator
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Actually, it was never a rule that a sentence must not end in a preposition. Some misguided people, influenced by Latin, just tried to impose it on the language. Bruce |
14 Oct 2013
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almaz
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Sorry, but there is no such rule- whether formal or informal - about preposition stranding and there never has been. Even HW Fowler referred to it as a "cherished superstition". Blame John Dryden.
And as Sophia said, the �up� of the phrasal verb wake up is a particle which can be used before or after its direct object (wake up the whole house/wake the whole house up) unless it�s an unstressed personal pronoun - in which case it can�t precede it (wake him up but not *wake up him).
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14 Oct 2013
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ueslteacher
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Hello Alex, Just one question, though, if you �re writing in formal style, you do use this version (and the like) This is the man with whom I had an argument , don �t you? I mean if it �s IELTS writing paper or something similar. I am curious, because we�ve just covered relative clauses with my 9th graders and such examples were classified as formal in the textbook (a good one by one of the mainstream publishers) Sophia
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14 Oct 2013
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cunliffe
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On this point - �That is a rule up with which I will not put �.
Who said it? No googling!
Here�s a clue - he�s got a few more in this list.
By the way, �whom� is practically obsolete. I would never use it as it sounds pretentious.
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14 Oct 2013
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almaz
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Sophia, there �s certainly a place for fronting the preposition - particularly in a very formal register, but it would depend on the degree of formality you were trying to communicate. Sometimes a refusal to strand a preposition simply comes across as awkward at best or just stiff-necked priggishness - depending on the context, of course. Sometimes, it �s impossible (as in restrictive clauses introduced by �that � or even with the pronoun omitted - this is the book (that) he asked for).
Cunliffe: No, he didn �t 
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14 Oct 2013
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cunliffe
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Alex, oh it was just something to have a laugh at. Or at which to have a laugh.
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14 Oct 2013
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ueslteacher
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Thanks, Alex, I gladly take on board your advice (most of the times, anyway:) It �s just, that we as teachers of a foreign language always have to think about exams and those who make them and try to preclude possible problems... unfortunately, forgetting about the real language. Sophia |
14 Oct 2013
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