Dear Legal Writer: It’s OK to end a sentence with a preposition
“You should never end a sentence with a preposition.” Were you taught this rule, too? Well, it’s crap.
Here’s evidence, with some important caveats to think about & references for further reading.
🔷 Bryan A. Garner, Garner’s Modern Legal English Usage, 4th ed. (2016), pp. 723-24:
“The spurious rule about not ending sentences with prepositions is a remnant of Latin grammar, in which a preposition was the one word that a writer could not end a sentence with. . . .
But if the SUPERSTITION is a ‘rule’ at all, it is not a rule of rhetoric and not of grammar, the idea being to end sentences with strong words that drive a point home. . . .
Good writers don’t hesitate to end their sentences with prepositions if doing so results in phrasing that seems natural.”
🔷 Wayne Schiess, Fine Points for Legal Writing (2019), pp. 32-33:
“Some professors and lawyers enforce a rule against ending a sentence, or even a clause, with a preposition. . . .
There is no such rule.”
BUT . . .
“Ending a sentence with a preposition might be considered informal, so if you’re writing for a professor or lawyer who follows the rule, you might have to follow it, too.”
🔷 Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips, “Ending a Sentence with a Preposition,” Dec. 3, 2020 (website accessed Oct. 20, 2022).
“Yes, you can end a sentence with a preposition.”
“Nearly all grammarians” denounce any strict rule against sentence-ending prepositions, and any such rule is “a myth.” (citing sources)
BUT . . .
“[T]he myth is so prevalent, there are times when you should avoid doing it even though I’m saying it isn’t wrong.
For example, when you’re writing a cover letter to a potential employer, don’t end a sentence with a preposition.”
* * *
As for me, I am always trying to become a better, more informed writer. But old habits die hard.
And so, I’ve been trying diligently for a while now to unlearn what I’d long been taught. (Five years of Latin, having a long-term client who enforced the “rule,” and other influences did not serve me well in this regard.)
I still find myself regularly rearranging sentences to avoid sentence-ending prepositions—w/o awkward wording. I find that often, sentences simply read better once refigured to avoid the dilemma.
But I also know that my view on what “reads better” may be haunted by so many years of Latin-grammar and client-focused indoctrination.
What’s your take on this one?
Fondly,
💌 Amanda