Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[youngdog]

a)You installed a video camera to watch the nest with.
b)You installed a video camera to watch the nest .

Question
1)Are both grammatically correct?
2)Do the two have the same meaning?

Thank you in advance.
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youngdog

[Anuradha Chepur]

Only (b) is correct.

[youngdog]

Thank you for your reply.

However, a) is in the NHK textbook, which is one of
the prestigious textbooks in Japan.


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youngdog

[Lorikeet]

I could accept (a) as a native speaker sentence, but it is not as elegant as (b). The "with" doesn't add anything and makes the sentence look awkward. That said, I might say something like that, but hopefully I'd fix it if I wrote it in an essay.

[youngdog]

Thank you for the quick response.

Can't they be analyzed this way?

a)You installed 　＋　a video camera to watch the nest with.

b)You installed a video camera　　＋　 to watch the nest .
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youngdog

[lotus]

Hi Youngdog,

It is a dangling preposition.

Some say it's an egregious error:
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/rpriebe/cs_ed_sp02/links/prep.htm

Others say that it's not such a serious error-- and that correction, in some cases, may not be so easy.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/prepositions.htm#ending

I would re-write the sentence as:
You installed the video camera to watch the nest.

The pointed definite article obviates the need for the last modifying preposition.

More general sentences might be:
The video camera was installed to watch the nest.
or
He installed the video camera to watch the nest.


--lotus
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War does not make one great --Yoda

[youngdog]

Thank you for the further explanation.

Then, do these sentences sound unnatural for native speakers?

Do you have anything to write with?
Do you have anything to write on?

I have a friend to talk with.
I have a friend to talk about.
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youngdog

[lotus]

Hi youngdog,

Yes, they dangle. But they sound somewhat natural.

Do you have anything to write with?
Do you have anything to write on?

Interrogative sentences ending with prepositions are pretty common.

I have a friend to talk with.
I have a friend I talk to.
I have a friend I talk about.


--lotus
_________________
War does not make one great --Yoda

[youngdog]

Arigatou(Thank you)

Sayonara(Good by)

youngdog
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youngdog