What did you spend over 100 dollars on yesterday?

[ROBINDESBOIS]

or what did you spend over 100 dollars yesterday on?

Wher do we put the preposition before the time phrase or always at the end, no matter what kind of phrase?

[poli]

Originally Posted by ROBINDESBOIS

or what did you spend over 100 dollars yesterday on?

Wher do we put the preposition before the time phrase or always at the end, no matter what kind of phrase?

You can say: what did you spend over $100 on yesterday,
but if you wish to be very gramatically correct ( this is rather formal): On what did you spend $100 yesterday?

[Rusty]

It's perfectly fine to end a phrase with a preposition in English.
It's also perfectly fine to end a phrase with an adverb of time.

Both questions work, but I would place the adverb after the preposition.

Let's change the interrogative into a statement and let's simplify it a bit by replacing 'over 100 dollars' with 'money'.

"Yesterday I spent money on something."
"I spent money on something yesterday."
"I spent money yesterday on something."

The prepositional phrase 'on something' can't be separated.
As you can see, the adverb of time can go in three places, but the last sentence seems a bit awkward to me. This is probably because my brain is wired to think about the collocation 'spend money on something', which comes with no adverb in it.

Now, let's ask a question.

"Oh? What did you spend money on yesterday?"

This question is phrased as I would expect it. It's asking about the object of the preposition. If we drop the adverb 'yesterday', the question would still illicit a correct response, and the collocation 'spend money on' was ever present.

Now, let's place the adverb before the preposition.
"Oh? What did you spend money yesterday on?"

This question works, but 'spend money yesterday on' isn't the collocation I was expecting to hear.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Thank you that´s what I thought

[poli]

It is perfectly good to en a sentence with a preposition, but it is not good formal grammar. It is, however, used by nearly everyone in everyday speech all the time. In the unlikely event that you need to write a legal document or a public announcement, it is advisable to place the preposition at the beginning of the prepositional phrase.

[Awaken]

What poli said is accurate. If you were writing a formal document, you would try to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.

In a formal document:
Who are you speaking to?
To whom are you speaking?

If you say the formal version in speech, it will make you sound like a snob or snooty.

Anyway, stick with Rusty's proposals and you will be good.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by poli

It is, however, used by nearly everyone in everyday speech all the time. .

Speak for yourself. It is a habit up with which I shall not put.

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by poli

It is perfectly good to en a sentence with a preposition, but it is not good formal grammar.

More accurately, there are high registers in which some people consider it inaccurate, following a rule invented by a poet rather than observed among actual speakers of the language.

[poli]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Speak for yourself. It is a habit up with which I shall not put.

I gingerly wrote "nearly everyone" knowing that there are a rare few souls who are language purists and they have a powerful peanut gallery to which I am not opposed.


And you are right PJT33 using the peposition in the "correct" in a sentence sometimes makes very plain things sound
stilted or poetic. Everyday speech is the proof of the pudding, and most good speakers put the preposition in a place in the sentence where it is most clear and easily understood by others.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by poli

I gingerly wrote "nearly everyone" knowing that there are a rare few souls who are language purists..

I was actually being ironic. Nevertheless, I still think a preposition is a poor word to end a sentence with.