- I have a decent house to live.
- I have a decent house to live in.
Which one of these sentences is correct?
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What have you found to lead you toward one or the other?– DavoMar 22, 2017 at 12:39
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Short answer: You "live in a house", you don't "live a house", so you can't drop the in.– stangdonMar 22, 2017 at 14:29
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@stangdon - It's not always quite that simple, though. For example, I could say, "There is a pink flamingo outside the house we live in," but I could also say "There is a pink flamingo outside the house where we live," and drop the in the "where we live" version.– J.R. ♦Mar 22, 2017 at 15:27
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@J.R. - Hm, true, but that's a totally different phrasing. The OP's sentence doesn't use that phrasing.– stangdonMar 22, 2017 at 15:39
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@J.R. Yes, which is the relative pronoun for NP's but where is the relative preposition used to replace PP's. If you only replace the NP, the preposition needs to remain. So Strangdon's point is basically correct. :)– Araucaria - Not here any more.Mar 22, 2017 at 15:50
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1 Answer
I have a house. I live in a house: a house to live in
Correct: I have a decent house to live in. It comes from: Correct: I have a decent house in which to live.
My children have toys. My children play with toys: toys to play with.
Another example: My children have nice toys with which to play. My children have nice toys to play with.
Your parents have classics. Your parents paid for classics: classics paid for.
Your parents have great hard-back classics for which they paid. Your parents have great hard-back classics they paid for.
Summary, when there is a clause that requires a preposition + which, you can drop the which and place the preposition after the verb.
