A 如上所述,介词通常位于名词或代词之前。然而,以下两个结构中的介词在非正式英语中有可能会移到句末:
1 以介词+whom/which/what/whose/where开头的疑问句:
To whom were you talking?(正式的)
Who were you talking to?(非正式的)
你刚才在跟谁谈话?
In which drawer does he keep it?(正式的)
Which drawer does he keep it in?(非正式的)
他把它存放在哪一个抽屉里?
过去常常认为以介词结尾的句子是不合乎语法要求的,但是现在它已被接受为一种口语形式。
2 同样,在关系从句中位于whom/which之前的介词也可移到从句之末,此时关系代词常被省略:
the paople with whom I was travelling(正式的)
跟我一起旅行的人们
可变为:
the people I was travelling with(非正式的)
the company from which I hire my TV set(正式的)
租给我电视机的那家公词
可变为:
the company I hire my TV set from(非正式的)
B 但在短语动词中,介词/副词跟在动词之后而不改变位置,因此上述的正规结构是不允许的:the child I was looking after不能改写成after+whom形式。Which bridge did they blowup?也不能改写为up+which形式。