Prepositions Made Simple

Video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKJXMamsqPM

Recently, I had occasion to check out from the library the first season of the TV show The Big Bang Theory. I found it pretty entertaining, though more so toward the beginning of the season than toward the end.
             These guys are supposed to be smart, yet one of them, in one episode, develops the tendency to put his fingers to his temples and give people a very intense look every time they do something he doesn't like, as if to harm them with just the force of his mind. Now, I'm sorry, but if you are sincerely under the impression that this does anything, you don't get to call yourself the smartest guy in the room.

             But anyhow, there came an episode with our heroes dealing with this upstart, North Korean child prodigy, whose genius was so great that our heroes felt threatened by it. One of them, early in the episode, said to him, "May I say, your English is very good."

             He replied, "So is yours, aside from your occasional tendency to end a sentence with a preposition."

             Now as far as I know, there's nothing wrong with using a chair as if it were a chair, a toothbrush as if it were a toothbrush, or a set of nail clippers as if they were, in fact, a set of nail clippers. So perhaps this adolescent twit would care to explain what's wrong with using a Germanic language as if it were, in fact, a Germanic language.

             Ah, but wait a minute. What does he mean by "ending a sentence with a preposition?" What do I mean by "Germanic language?"

             You see, all over the English-speaking world, one finds grammatical experts who will swear to you left and right, whatever else happens, a preposition is something a sentence must never end with. You will also find experts who will tell you it's no big deal. The key difference is whether the expert in question is more a fan of German or of Latin.

             Ah. But why those two languages in particular? You see, Latin was the language of ancient Rome, and as such is called a Romance language. Rome-->Romance. Spanish, French, Italian, and Portugese are all descended from Latin, and as such, are each also classified as Romance languages.

             Once in a while, someone whose first language is English begins to study one of these other languages and finds a lot of common Latin roots, and so mistakenly comes under the impression that English is also descended from Latin. But in fact, English is a Germanic language because it is descended from ancient German, along with modern German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic.

             Now what does this have to do with prepositions?  The World English Dictionary defines the word "preposition" as "a word or group of words used before a noun or pronoun to relate it grammatically or semantically to some other constituent of a sentence." Personally, I don't find that particular definition especially helpful, so let me see if I can improvise a better one. A preposition is a word in the sentence which describes the relationship (usually in space or time) between two or more of the nouns or pronouns within the sentence.

             "The computer sat on the desk." "On" is the preposition here.

             "The pretentious know-it-all monologued in the video." "In" is the preposition here.

             "The student had to study while his friends got to play ball in the park." "While" and "in" are the prepositions here.

             "He went to use the bathroom during the commercial." "During" is the preposition here.

             "She took a nap after watching her favorite movie." "After" is the preposition here.

             I find, a good way to develop one's skill for identifying prepositions is by practicing using different words in conjunction with the words "the fence."

             "The squirrel sat on the fence."

             "The cat walked along the fence."

             "The baseball flew over the fence."

             "The gopher tunneled under the fence."

             "The basketball bounced off the fence."

             "The riding lawn mower that Tim Allen had been tinkering with crashed through the fence."

             That is how a preposition is identified. Now, "Never end a sentence with a preposition" is an absolute iron-clad rule of Romance grammar, not Germanic. It is the norm, in English, to give our prepositions the Germanic treatment instead, and there's nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with using a Germanic language as if it were, indeed, a Germanic language.

             Now remember, I referred earlier to those common Latin roots that one finds between English and insert Romance language here. Those are there because, although technically and officially a Germanic language, English has, over the centuries, come under a lot of influence from the Romance languages. One consequence of this is that we can give our prepositions the Romance treatment and they still make sense.

"The Internet is an information resource we can turn to," becomes "The Internet is an information resource to which we can turn." "Such-and-so is a leader we can rely on," becomes "Such-and-so is a leader on whom we can rely." "That is something I have a problem with," becomes "That is something with which I have a problem."

             Now personally, I recommend practicing and developing a skill for phrasing sentences both ways. I recommend practicing taking sentences phrased one way and rephrasing them the other. This, in my experience, is a tremendous help in analyzing and understanding the arguments one is presented with. Or shall I say, "...the arguments with which one is presented." It's also a tremendous help if one's first language is Germanic and one is now trying to learn a Romance language.

             I recommend developing a skill for both because one will find situations in which one is preferrable, and situations in which the other is. I recommend not being determined to stick to one or the other. Such is, after all, a good way up with which to get mixed.

             So the next time some pretentions know-it-all presumes to take you to task for ending a sentence with a preposition, just say, "Oh. So you are saying that such is the sort of English up with which you will not put?"