A dangling preposition (also called a suspended adverb or a compound adverb) means a preposition whose object occurs at the beginning of a sentence, or has no object at all in the sentence.
We often encounter dangling prepositions when whose, who, where or what is used to begin a question.
Examples of Dangling Prepositions
- “Whose room you are sharing and staying in?”
- “What are you referring about?”
- “Who will we visit with?”
- “Where will they be from?”
For the infinitives of prepositional or phrasal verbs, the preposition is left without an object and becomes stranded.
For Example:
- “Don’t worry, honey, there is nothing to be scared of!”
- “Each one of you will brief about the subject studied, make sure you are covered to discuss about.”
- “I just purchased a video to watch to.”
- “He wished he had a friend to travel with.”
Passive voice, where the preposition is left dangling at the end of the clause
For Example:
- “I wonder who this book was written by.”
- “The problem is being dealt with.”
- “These expenses still haven’t been accounted for.”
Where only whose, which, and whom can function as objects of prepositions when the preposition precedes the pronoun, as in:
For Example:
- “I learned everything I know from my brother, to whom I owe a great deal.”
- “The family in whose house we’re staying has been very kind to us.”
- “There are many things in my life for which I am very grateful.”
Related Resources
Keep exploring with EnglishBix to learn more about prepositions and how they are used in sentences.