Editing Adposition (section)

==Stranding==
{{Main|Preposition stranding}}

Preposition stranding is a [[syntax|syntactic]] construct in which a preposition occurs somewhere other than immediately before its complement. For example, in the English sentence "What did you sit on?" the preposition ''on'' has ''what'' as its complement, but ''what'' is [[Wh-fronting|moved to the start]] of the sentence, because it is an [[interrogative word]]. This sentence is much more common and natural than the equivalent sentence without stranding: "On what did you sit?" Preposition stranding is commonly found in [[English language|English]],<ref name="CB1">{{cite web| last=Lundin|first=Leigh |title=The Power of Prepositions |url=http://criminalbrief.com/?p=216 |work=On Writing |publisher=Criminal Brief |location=Cairo |date=2007-09-23 }}</ref> as well as [[North Germanic languages]] such as [[Swedish language|Swedish]]. Its existence in [[German language|German]] is debated. Preposition stranding is also found in some [[Niger–Congo languages]] such as Vata and Gbadi, and in some North American varieties of [[French language|French]].

Some prescriptive English grammars teach that prepositions cannot end a sentence, although there is [[List of common English usage misconceptions|no rule]] prohibiting that use.<ref name="Mignon Fogarty">{{cite web |url=http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/top-ten-grammar-myths.aspx|title= Top Ten Grammar Myths|first= Mignon |last=Fogarty|date= 4 March 2010|work= Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing|access-date= 27 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="Random House">{{cite book |title= Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language|url= https://archive.org/details/originsofspeciou00ocon|url-access= limited|last1= O'Conner|first1= Patricia T.|last2= Kellerman|first2= Stewart|year= 2009|publisher= Random House|location= New York|isbn= 978-1-4000-6660-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/originsofspeciou00ocon/page/17 17]}}</ref> Similar rules arose during the rise of classicism, when they were applied to English in imitation of classical languages such as Latin. [[Otto Jespersen]], in his ''Essentials of English Grammar'' (first published 1933), commented on this definition-derived rule: "...nor need a preposition (Latin: ''praepositio'') stand before the word it governs (go the fools ''among'' (Sh[akespeare]); What are you laughing ''at''?). You might just as well believe that all blackguards are black or that turkeys come from Turkey; many names have either been chosen unfortunately at first or have changed their meanings in the course of time."<ref>{{cite book|last=Jespersen|first=Otto|author-link=Otto Jespersen|title=Essentials of English Grammar|year=1962|location=London|publisher=George Allen & Unwin|page=69|isbn=1135662118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cyAhxH035RUC&pg=PT96}}</ref>