Prepositions without end

Subject: Prepositions without end
From: Mark Levinson <mark -at- CRABAPPLE -dot- BITNET>
Date: Wed, 4 May 1994 15:27:53 IDT

(2) So the only grammatical alternative, "That is ... pedantry I will not
put up with," must be the correct way to say it.

** Or "... pedantry with which I will not put up."
"With" is a preposition, but "up" is an adverb.

The comments claiming that these "with"s and "over"s aren't really
prepositions but adverbs, or some other kind of verbal auxiliaries, are
well-intentioned, but they seem to get us into needless arguments about
words; that is, about what to christen these funny locutions.

** Hey, a preposition has an object and an averb doesn't. It's sure
needless to argue about that point, but it's careless to ignore it.

Quiz. Can you think of a sentence that ends in two prepositions? Three?
How many prepositions *could* you have at the end of a sentence?

** An infinite number.

Who was that lady I saw you with?
Who was that gentleman I saw the lady I saw you with with?
Who was that lady I saw the gentleman I saw the lady I saw you with with
with?
... ad infinitum.
_________________________________________________________________________
Mark L. Levinson | E-mail: mark -at- dcl-see -dot- co -dot- il
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