This is the case for “passed” vs. “past,” and similar-but-not-identical meanings make matters confusing as well. “Past” can also be used this way in a grammatical context. One of the ...

If a preposition takes an object and is, as Merriam’s notes, “usually followed by” that object, it calls into question a sentence like “What did you do that for,” in which the ...

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with John McWhorter, Columbia University linguist and New York Times columnist about the recent Merriam-Webster declaration that English sentences may end with prepositions.