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[laepelba]

STOP IT!!! Your English is SO much better than my Spanish. You are talking about super-picky tiny details. Take it easy on yourself.

[irmamar]

Thanks, Lou Ann, you're always so kind

By the way, I've modified my former message, there is a question

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by laepelba

IN FACT, the old-fashioned folks will say that you can't use a preposition at the end of a sentence. So, if you want to be sure not to offend any old-fashioned grammarians, you should have said: "It does not depend on the size, but on the material of which it is made."

Yes, but nobody younger than 100 years old would say this.

Have you heard what somebody famous once said? "A preposition is the wrong word to end a sentence with, and it is a habit up with which I shall not put."

Originally Posted by irmamar

What about: "what are you listening to?"

This is absolutely correct today. Don't worry about it.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Yes, but nobody younger than 100 years old would say this.

Actually, in the U.S., they taught us about not ending sentences with prepositions when I was still in school. It's only recently that I've heard that "they" have changed "their" minds about it. We ought to have an "RAE" for English.

[irmamar]

I didn't know that sentence, but I'll have it in mind, thanks

But I'm sure I've seen prepositions at the end of the sentences, that's because I use them (maybe they were from old books )

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by Perikles

Yes, but nobody younger than 100 years old would say this.

Oi!

Well, what I would actually say is

It depends not on the size but on the material from which it's made.

Have you heard what somebody famous once said? "A preposition is the wrong word to end a sentence with, and it is a habit up with which I shall not put."

The version I know is attributed to Churchill as "This is the kind of nonsense up with which I will not put!" But it appears to be misattributed, and actually to have been said by an anonymous civil servant.

Originally Posted by irmamar

But I'm sure I've seen prepositions at the end of the sentences, that's because I use them (maybe they were from old books )

Of course you have. 99.9%+ of native speakers put them there.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by pjt33

Well, what I would actually say is

It depends not on the size but on the material from which it's made.

Actually, that is what I would say as well, but I think we are in a small minority here. I think it is a fine point for discussion of a mother tongue, but not really for English as a foreign language.