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CONTENTS FEATURE: Ending a sentence with a preposition or adverb sometimes is OK GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: Ending a sentence with a preposition or adverb sometimes is OK      Sir Winston Churchill is credited with poking a finger in the ribs of pretentiousness by purportedly writing, "This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put" to rebuke a change that a fastidious editor had made. Although this now-legendary tale has become dubious because of the lack of verifiable evidence, it makes a valid point: grammarians can appear priggish when they critique conversational statements.      In spoken or casual written communication, ending a sentence with a preposition is fine. In many cases, a sentence-ending preposition is the most natural way to express a thought.      In formal writing, however, use of sentence-ending prepositions should be avoided because a proposition is an introductory element. Prepositions include the words in, for, to, across, after, at, by, with, during, from, into and of. A preposition is intended to link one part of a sentence to another. I ate lunch during. There's a sentence that ends in a preposition. You ate lunch during WHAT? She was punished for. Punished for WHAT?      Here's what the American Heritage Book of English Usage says about the acceptability of the practice of ending sentences with prepositions under certain circumstances: "It was John Dryden, the 17th-century poet and dramatist, who first promulgated the doctrine that a preposition may not be used at the end a sentence. Grammarians in the 18th century refined the doctrine, and the rule has since become one of the most venerated maxims of schoolroom grammar. But sentences ending with prepositions can be found in the works of most of the great writers since the Renaissance. In fact, English syntax not only allows but sometimes even requires final placement of the preposition, as in We have much to be thankful for or That depends on what you believe in."      Bear in mind that some words can function as either prepositions or adverbs, They include across, beyond and near. Ending a sentence with an adverb may be perfectly acceptable — for example, Ronnie outgrew the jacket, so his parents gave it away.      Sir Winston's putative attempt to rectify a sentence ending in a preposition looked ridiculous because the preposition that he relocated was part of a phrasal verb: "put up with." Many idiomatic phrases and phrasal verbs contain adverbs or prepositions. Examples include "face up to," "run across," "in for [a big surprise]," "in on [the plot]." "[he] came to," "nail down," "give [him] what for," "out of [necessity]," "[he] got to me," "came through," "through and through" and "zero in on."      The three words in Churchill's phrasal verb "put up with" must remain contiguous in order for the verbal expression to make sense. To eliminate the problem, he could have chosen a single word to replace the phrase "put up with" — for example: This is the sort of bloody nonsense that I will not TOLERATE" or "I CONDEMN this sort of bloody nonsense."      Phrasal verbs are peculiar — and can confuse people who speak English as a second language — because their meaning often deviates from the literal definitions of their individual words. The phrasal verb "put up with" differs substantially in meaning from "put up" (as in "put up a struggle" or "put up a tent")," "put up for" (as in "put up for election" or "put up for sale"), or "put up to" (as in "those kids are responsible for the vandalism because they put him up to it").      A careful writer often can identify single-word equivalents for phrasal verbs. Instead of "face up to," you could say "acknowledge" or "admit" or "confront." In place of "find out," you could substitute "discover" or "learn." Instead of "I'll look it over," you could say "I'll examine it."      In place of the American Heritage Book of English Usage example We have much to be thankful for, you could say We have many reasons to feel thankful or We feel thankful for many reasons. Instead of That depends on what you believe in, you could say That depends on your beliefs. Instead of asking What did you do that for? you could write Why did you do that?      Even sticklers for tradition can have no grounds for criticizing sentences such as "I don't know where she will end up" or "It's the most curious book I've ever run across"; in these examples, up and across are adverbs, not prepositions. You can be sure of this because you cannot transform these examples into sentences with prepositional phrases. It is simply not grammatical English to say "I don't know up where she will end" and "It's the most curious book across which I have ever run."      Now the next time someone criticizes you for ending a sentence with a preposition, but you know it's part of a phrasal verb, you can point that out. That will be your chance to show off. (And if you were really paying attention, you know that each of the two previous sentences ended with a phrasal verb.) GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions 1. Patty B. wrote:      "A former colleague asked me about the variations of the words 'Web site' that appear in publications. Does the rule remain that 'Web' is initial capped? We are seeing 'Website,' 'website,' 'web site' and 'Web Site.' My initial thought is this: There is no one in charge of anything anymore. Do whatever seems right to you and be consistent. What do you think?" The grammar coach replies:      The short answer is: take your pick. Your question is timely. After holding fast to "Web site" (two words, initial-capped "W"), the Associated Press Stylebook Online in mid-April announced its acceptance of the term 'website' (along with previously recognized terms 'webcam,' 'webcast' and 'webmaster').      When we tackled the "Web site / website" question in the August 2004 edition of the EditPros newsletter, we noted that the terms "Web page" and "Web site" appeared to be evolving from "open" (two words) to "closed" (one word) form. We cautioned that because the terms were in the process of that transition, dictionaries were not in agreement about their proper form.      The Merriam-Webster Online dictionary contains an entry for "Web site" as two separate words, with an initial capital letter for "Web" (in reference to "World Wide Web," which it specifies with three words, each one with an initial capital letter). The online edition of the Cambridge Dictionary of American English agrees.      In contrast, Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition (the current edition, updated in 2004), and the Compact Oxford English Dictionary endorse "website" (one word, lowercased).      The online American Heritage Dictionary approves of both "website" and "Web site," and offers a detailed usage note: "The transition from 'World Wide Web site' to 'Web site' to 'website' seems to have progressed as rapidly as the technology itself. The development of 'website' as a single uncapitalized word mirrors the development of other technological expressions which have tended to evolve into unhyphenated forms as they become more familiar. Thus 'email' has recently been gaining ground over the forms 'E-mail' and 'e-mail,' especially in texts that are more technologically oriented. Similarly, there has been an increasing preference for closed forms like 'homepage,' 'online,' and 'printout'."      The Random House Dictionary, meanwhile, approves of all three versions, in this order: Web site, web site, website.      Sir Walter Scott was right: oh, what a tangled web (or Web) we weave. 2. Sherry M. wrote:      "My colleague and I find our perspectives are different for the use of welcome/welcomed in the following sentence: it was a welcome(d) opportunity. Can you please tell us which is correct ('welcome' or 'welcomed'), and why?      On a side note, you have provided us with definitive answers to difficult grammar questions three times over the last five years. We appreciate your willingness to provide guidance when consensus eludes us." The grammar coach replies:      We're glad we've been helpful, Sherry. The word "welcome" is tricky because it can function as a transitive verb (meaning "to greet cordially"), as an interjection (for example, "Welcome, Bob"), as an adjective (meaning "gladly received") and as a noun (the act of greeting or reception — for example, "I appreciate your gracious welcome for me").      The word "welcomed" exists in only one of those uses — it is among the inflected forms (past tense) of the verb "welcome." However, in your example, "welcome" is not being used as a verb. It is functioning as an adjective, modifying "opportunity". What kind of opportunity? A "welcome opportunity" (in the same way that you might refer to a "propitious opportunity" or a "timely opportunity"). And there's your answer. Drop the "d," and you're in good shape: "it was a welcome opportunity."      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500      Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros' services? If you do, EditPros may reward you with a "finder's fee" of up to $500.      EditPros LLC, established in 1993, performs writing, editing, proofreading and publication management services for newsletters, brochures, Web sites, annual reports, research studies, business proposals, and other informational and marketing materials. Our office is in Davis, Calif., between Sacramento and San Francisco; however, our clients include educational institutions, private corporations, health-care organizations, trade associations, scientific research institutions, Web site developers and government agencies from throughout the United States. We have worked with some of them for more than 10 years.      If you recommend our services to a friend or business colleague, and that introduction leads to an assignment for EditPros, we will award you a "finder's fee" equaling 10 percent of the amount we earn on the first assignment for the new client, up to a maximum finder's fee of $500. Naturally, the finder's fee is applicable only to client organizations for which we have not worked previously.      This offer will remain in effect until further notice. 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