0

I try to understand using of 'to' at the end of this sentence. I understand the meaning but grammar is confusing me. Can someone explain it to me please? I hope I could express myself. I googled but couldn't find anyting. 'songs to dance to', 'songs to make up to' etc, have same construction. Is it about the verbs 'dance' ,' make up','have' or something else that? For me in to's at the end of construction is necessary but obviously I'm wrong but why?

Thanks in advance.

Improve this question
1
  • This is actually a noun phrase, not a sentence.
    – user230
    Jul 5, 2018 at 0:02

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

To "to" at the end of this sentence is a dangling preposition. If you were pedantic, the sentence would be rewritten as:

Movies to which one (can) have a good cry

The "to" functions as a preposition indicating what you are crying for (or, in this case, to). In the second example you provided, it would be "Songs to which you can dance," i.e, songs that are good for dancing.

The first "to" is for the infinitive of the verb phrase "to have a good cry."

The headline as you present it though is very colloquial and du jour, and one could likewise say "Tear-jerking Films" "Sentimental Movies" or "Heartbreaking Titles," etc., etc.

Improve this answer
3
  • 2
    And if you were such a pedant you would also be wrong. The prohibition against ending a sentence with a preposition has been shown to be false by the vast majority of grammarians—despite the myth's enduring existence and actual claim by almost nobody authoritarian to the contrary. ;)
    – Jason Bassford
    Jun 28, 2018 at 17:43
  • The prohibition does not even have to be shown as false. We know it was fake to begin with, as it was specifically invented for the purpose of re-modelling English after Latin by some folks who proclaimed that Latin was awesome and English was rubbish. To which everyone else said WTF and rather than turning English into Latin forgot Latin altogether as a punishment. And so to this day there is simply no such thing as a dangling preposition in English. It's just a preposition, is all.
    – ЯegDwight
    Jun 28, 2018 at 19:43
  • Lol look man, I am just using a construct to decipher the idiom for this gentlemen/lady. The validity or elegance of structuring a sentence in a certain manner is another matter altogether...!
    – tidbertum
    Jun 30, 2018 at 1:30
0

movies [(for you) to have a good cry to __ ]

The bracketed "to have a good cry to" is an infinitival relative clause modifying "movies", in which the relativised element is complement of the preposition "to" (represented by the gap notation '__'). It has a modal meaning similar to that expressed in "movies that one can have a good cry to".

Note than a subject can be optionally added, as shown in parentheses.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.