Common English usage misconceptions: Difference between revisions

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* '''Misconception:''' ''A sentence must not end in a [[preposition]].''<ref name="Cutts 2009. p. 109">[[#Cut09|Cutts 2009]]. p. 109.</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">[[#CK09|O'Conner and Kellerman 2009]]. p. 21.</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Fog10|Fogarty 2010]]. "Top Ten Grammar Myths."</ref>

[[Mignon Fogarty]] writes that "nearly all grammarians agree that it's fine to end sentences with prepositions, at least in some cases."<ref>[[#Fog10|Fogarty 2011]]. pp. 45–46.</ref> ''[[Fowler's|Fowler's Modern English Usage]]'' says, "One of the most persistent myths about prepositions in English is that they properly belong before the word or words they govern and should not be placed at the end of a clause or sentence."<ref>[[#Bur96|Burchfield 1996]]. p. 617.</ref> [[Preposition stranding]] was in use long before any English speakers [[disputes in English grammar#Examples|considered it incorrect]]. This idea probably began in the 17th century, owing to an essay by the poet [[John Dryden]], and it is still taught in schools at the beginning of the 21st century.<ref name="Cutts 2009. p. 109" /> However,But "every major grammarian for more than a century has tried to debunk" this idea; "it's perfectly natural to put a preposition at the end of a sentence, and it has been since Anglo-Saxon times."<ref>[[#CK09|O'Conner and Kellerman 2009]]. p. 22.</ref> Many examples of terminal prepositions occur in classic works of literature, including the plays of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare.]]<ref name="ReferenceA" />. The saying "This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put"<ref>{{cite web |url= http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001715.html |title= A misattribution no longer to be put up with |date= 12 December 2004 |work= Language Log |access-date=29 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA" />{{Ref label|B|b|none}} satirizes the awkwardness that can result from prohibiting sentence-ending prepositions.

* '''Misconception:''' ''[[Infinitives]] must not be [[Split infinitive|split]].''