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ESL forum >
Ask for help > PREPOSITIONS IN QUESTIONS
PREPOSITIONS IN QUESTIONS
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curk
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PREPOSITIONS IN QUESTIONS
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Hi, everyone and Happy New Year.
I �ve got a doubt whether to put the preposition after the verb in a question or at the end.
Who were you talking to at the party? or Who were you talkng at the party to?
What is the rule?
THANKS
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8 Jan 2014
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donika
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Hi, not sure about the rule but the first option is correct"Who were you talking to at the party"
:-)
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8 Jan 2014
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MoodyMoody
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Some phrasal verbs can be separated and some can �t. "Talk to" can �t be separated. Try looking at this website for an explanation and online dictionary. |
8 Jan 2014
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almaz
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I wouldn �t say that talk to is a phrasal verb - although I suppose it depends on what you understand by the term. The to here is simply a preposition and the verb and the preposition have occasionally been known to be separated by some other part of speech (as in "some people talk nonsense to their friends...", "talk dirty to me","talk down to", "talk back to", or here at ABC etc). Having said that, the first option (...talking to at the party) is definitely preferable to the second, usage-wise.
Perhaps curk �s confusion stems partly from the ridiculous zombie rule that forbids preposition stranding? |
9 Jan 2014
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yanogator
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Yes, in this case "at the party" is just additional information. The main question is "Who were you talking to?", so the "to" stays where it is when you add the extra three words. Bruce |
9 Jan 2014
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