Was your English teacher wrong?!

53,575 views ・ 2017-04-01

Learn English with Papa Teach Me


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Never end a sentence with a preposition!
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"You represent the United States government
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never end a sentence with a preposition"
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Really though?
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Is it really a rule? Or is it just pedantic bastards
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making life sad?
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Let's find out!
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Maybe once innocently you said
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HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING 'FOR'?
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and your pedantic "friend" who corrects
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your grammar all the time will say this.
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"Never end a sentence with a preposition"
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There's an easy solution : don't be friends
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with this person anymore!
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Now, of course you could say :
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AND 'FOR' HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING?
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That's fine! But it sounds a bit formal, and in casual conversation,
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sounds a bit out of place.
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Guess who we have to blame for this rule?
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The Romans! It's always the Romans!
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Well this rule comes from Latin grammar,
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and in Latin-ish languages like French, Spanish, and Italian
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the rule still follows, and makes sense.
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but, in English it just... sounds a bit weird
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if you follow this rule to the letter.
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The main reason : phrasal verbs.
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Look at this phrasal verb sentence :
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WHO DO YOU GET ON WITH?
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Would you really say "ON WITH WHOM DO YOU GET"?
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No! That sounds ridiculous!
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Even Winston Churchill, yeah, this guy, even he didn't like this rule.
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Someone criticised him for ending a sentence with a preposition,
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to which he replied :
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"That's the sort of thing up with which I will not put!"
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He was so cool!
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However, some of the things that Winston Churchill will supposed to have said
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were actually made up.
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up, were made some of the things, Winston... Churchill... said...
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See what I mean? Today's English doesn't really fit.
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So... wait? Should we always end a sentence with a preposition then?
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That's what you're telling me?
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Well, no! It sounds like a better constructed sentence
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if you follow that rule,
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if that sentence doesn't end in a phrasal verb.
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And that's it! Well done!
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You learnt a thing, now go and get some ice cream!
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Thanks for watching!
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If you want to see more,
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click here to subscribe!
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Oh... there's another video right here,
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but you don't have to watch that.
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Just if you want!
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Watch it.
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