The correct grammar for I'm fed up with this topic. would be This is a topic up with which I'm fed. which sound ridiculous. Is there a grammatical rule or guideline that states the first quote is acceptable?
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1with which i'm fed up ?– RandomMay 22, 2015 at 14:50
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1@random That still ends with a preposition.– JayMay 22, 2015 at 15:00
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3The "rule" about not ending sentence with a preposition is a complete nonsense up with which I will not put.– KreiriMay 22, 2015 at 15:02
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1@JimM It's a paraphrase of alleged reaction of Churchill to a clumsy attempt to "fix" his wording.– KreiriMay 22, 2015 at 15:31
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1@Jay - fed up is a phrasal verb – the way I parse it, I'm not sure that counts as a preposition.– J.R. ♦May 22, 2015 at 15:39
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3 Answers
This is another example that demonstrates why the "never use a preposition to end a sentence with" rule is silly. Ignore this rule.
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Do not ignore this rule. If you can't end the sentence properly, that tells you you've improperly structured it from the outset. Mar 20, 2019 at 4:17
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Nonsense. Ending a sentence with a preposition does not mean that it is structured improperly, or ended improperly. The "rule" is nothing of the sort. Mar 20, 2019 at 4:34
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As a matter of fact it does. By definition, you cannot change up a prepositional phrase's word order. It's preposition-noun. If you end the sentence with a preposition, then you've inverted the prepositional phrase's word order - noun-preposition. It's a rule. We're done. Mar 20, 2019 at 4:59
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@user9570789 As Winston Churchill famously said, "That is a rule up with which I shall not put." Who said it's a rule? Why should we obey it? I can easily think of many examples where it makes a sentence awkward and difficult to understand. Just because somebody wrote it on a piece of paper somewhere doesn't make it a good rule.– JayMar 20, 2019 at 15:50
Actually, you're first sentence was grammatically correct. I'm fed up with this topic.
It did not end in a preposition, and further more, up isn't a preposition in this sentence. Prepositions don't stand alone, they make up prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases begin with a preposition and end with a noun.
That's why ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong, and it sounds wrong, because you're ending the prepositional phrase with a preposition, instead of with its noun.
Thus, "fed up" is a state of being. That means it's actually the verb in your sentence. I'm verb with this noun!
If "up" were a preposition, then "fed" would have to be the noun, and it should always appear "up fed". I'm up fed with this topic. Clearly, that's the ridiculous thing here, not the rule.
Thus, the rule doesn't apply in this case and never did. Cheers.
"fed up with" is an idiom and stands together, however you chose to parse it. "Fed up" may be regarded as a derived verb, althoguh not in the sentence
I'm afraid George is simply fed up.
In either case "fed up" does indicate a state of being.
This is a topic up with which I'm fed.
does not work, because it breaks the idiom. It may be understood, as a humorous reworking of the idiom, but if so it works precisely because it is, in the normal way of things, wrong, or at least abnormal.
answered Mar 20, 2019 at 4:42
