Flashcard 7 - Parts of Speech Flashcard Set for the English Basics

The word at should be omitted.

It is a commonly held grammatical myth that sentences cannot (or should not) end with a preposition. While this is generally a good rule of thumb to help people write better, there are cases where ending a sentence with a preposition is acceptable. For example, “Josie tried to cheer Jeff up,” or “Lottie left the flowers for the cake off.” In sentences where the meaning would be confusing without the preposition, it can stay. For example, “Which department does Marcy work in?” Few people would switch the preposition around to ask, “In which department does Marcy work?” This has become a socially acceptable use of prepositions at the end of sentences. It is not acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition, however, if that preposition is not necessary to understand the meaning of the sentence. For example, “Where is the party at?” is not an acceptable use of a preposition. You could leave the at off and the question would make perfect sense: “Where is the party?” That is what is happening in this sentence. The at at the end is unnecessary and is considered an error in the correct use of parts of speech.