It is a postposition when the sentence ends with "play with" but a preposition in the the imperative form and in the now-stilted "with which to play" form.
Despite this, there are times when it is actually better to have a sentence ending with a preposition than to keep rigidly to the rule and to sound too correct, pedantic, and awkward. In Latin, the word “preposition” translates roughly to the words for “before” and “to place.” However, in the years that followed, many have argued that trying to make English conform to Latin standards is not always practical, and that the preposition rule should not be followed if it damages the integrity of the sentence. Grammar snobs love to tell anyone who will listen: You should NEVER end a sentence with a preposition! Somewhere along the line, I was taught not to end a sentence with a preposition. In professional scenarios, it's best to play it safe and avoid prepositions at the ends of sentences. To paraphrase Manik Joshi in verbatim, “Using a preposition at the end of a sentence is not grammatically incorrect. However, if you believe that abandoning this rule is best for your writing, you're in good company: successful writers and orators have been doing it for centuries. Kim Bussing is a college-level composition and rhetoric instructor. Comments are moderated and subject to the If you have a question for the MLA’s editors, submit it to Be the first to read new posts and updates about MLA style.The submit button will be disabled until you complete the CAPTCHA. And English is not Latin, so there is no reason to follow Latin-specific rules. If, in the process of avoiding ending a sentence with a preposition, the sentence begins to sound awkward, overly formal, or confusing, then it's acceptable to ignore the preposition rule. I was taught, in other words, not to dangle my prepositions—maybe you were, too. The truth is that including a preposition at the end of a sentence is not Unlike apostrophe usage, however, sticking closely to the preposition rule can sometimes make sentences clunky or confusing. The truth is that including a preposition at the end of a sentence is not You should also not end a sentence with a preposition when it could be left out without the sentence losing any meaning. In professional scenarios, it's best to play it safe and avoid prepositions at the ends of sentences. For example: They will go later on. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Latin grammar rules were applied to the English language. Prepositional phrases are groupings of at least two words, consisting of, at minimum, the preposition and the Revised: They will go later. To make sense, a preposition needs an object; therefore, if it occurs at the end of a sentence, it is left hanging without its object. Because the preposition rule has long been ingrained in language education, potential employers or other business colleagues may believe this rule needs to be upheld. In emails, text messages, and notes to friends, it’s perfectly fine. It's useful to have a go-to rule for determining whether a given word is a preposition. It sounds pedantic. One famous example is So, as prepositions are designed to sit before nouns, there is some logic to the ruling that a preposition can't be at the end of a sentence. Unlike apostrophe usage, however, sticking closely to the preposition rule can sometimes make sentences clunky or confusing. Most would agree, for instance, that the sentence “That is the woman I told you about” sounds more natural than “That is the woman about whom I told you.” Sometimes prepositions are better left at the end of a sentence. Luckily for those poor, persecuted prepositions, that just isn’t true.
But the English language prohibition against “preposition stranding”—ending a sentence with a preposition like with, at, or of—is not like this. Scour the Internet for a hard-and-fast rule regarding the placement of prepositions and you will likely be met with a statement once (purportedly) made by Winston Churchill: “That is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I shall not put.” Whether Churchill actually said this is open to debate, but the point is crystal clear: sometimes making every possible effort to avoid a dangling preposition results in a sentence that sounds stilted or overworked. In school, you were taught that the rules of grammar should never be violated: use apostrophes to connote possession, join two ideas using a semicolon, and
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