Preposition Stranding - Preposition Stranding in English

Preposition Stranding in English

Further information: Disputes in English grammar

In English, preposition stranding is commonly found in three types of constructions: Wh-questions, pseudo-passives, and relative clauses.

• In Wh-constructions, the object of the preposition is a Wh-word in deep structure but is fronted as a result of the Wh-movement. It is commonly assumed in transformational approaches to syntax that the movement of a constituent out of a phrase leaves a silent trace. In the case of Wh-movement leaving a stranded preposition, the Wh-word is fronted to the beginning of the interrogative clause, leaving a trace after the preposition:

What_i are you talking about ____i?

• Pseudopassives are the result of the movement of the object of a preposition to fill an empty subject position for a passive verb. This phenomenon is comparable to regular passives, which are formed through the movement of the object of the verb to subject position. In pseudopassives, unlike in Wh-movement, the object of the preposition is not a Wh-word but rather a noun or noun phrase:

This chair_i was sat on ____i.

• Relative clauses in English can also exhibit preposition stranding, whether with a complementizer introducing the clause or without:

This is the book_i that_i I told you about ____i.

This is the book_i I told you about ____i.

Overzealous avoidance of stranded prepositions leads to unnatural-sounding sentences, especially when the preposition is part of an idiomatic phrasal verb, such as the following, apocryphally attributed to Winston Churchill. Note the verb is the phrasal verb "put up with," split to humorous effect:

This is the sort of tedious nonsense up with which I will not put.

Natural English occasionally uses sentences that involve many stranded prepositions in a row, such as in the following statement said by a young boy to his mother, who has just brought a book up from downstairs to read to her son. The boy wanted a different book.

What₁ did you bring that book₂ that I₃ didn't want to be read to___₃ out of___₂ up for___₁?

The up in the preceding example is not actually a stranded preposition but an adverb of movement. It can of course be moved to a position earlier in the sentence, sacrificing a little of the naturalness, whereas the true stranded prepositions can really only occur at the end in all but the most formal speech. The sentence now ends in a string of four words which are all stranded prepositions.

What₁ did you bring up that book₂ that I₃ didn't want to be read to___₃ out of___₂ for___₁?