Hi all! I've got a bugger of a sentence here. :)

Lyxdeslic · May 3, 2007

Hi everyone,

In my WIP, I have a sentence that keeps nagging at me. As it is an opening sentence/stands out, it's probably kinda' important to write it properly (not that they all aren't).

Would it be -- There is a single question to which we all yearn for the answer.

Or -- There is a single question of which we all yearn for the answer.

If you brilliant folks can help, my appreciation would be boundless.

Thanks,

Lyx

MelodyO · May 3, 2007

I'd say "there is a single question for which we all yearn the answer". But that's just me! :0)

SpookyWriter · May 3, 2007

There is a single question from which we all yearn for the answer.

MidnightMuse · May 3, 2007

There is but one question we all yearn to have answered.

scarletpeaches · May 3, 2007

You don't get the answer from the question. You get the answer to it.

It's 'to'.

Put the preposition at the end of the sentence. Would you say, "This is the question we all want the answer from?" No. You'd say, "This is the question we all want the answer to."

Lyxdeslic · May 3, 2007

MelodyO said:
I'd say "there is a single question for which we all yearn the answer". But that's just me! :0)

Thanks, Melody. This does work, but I'm not sure I like the flow.

SpookyWriter said:
There is a single question from which we all yearn for the answer.

Thanks, Spook (that makes me sound racisist). To me, though, this is all wrong.

MidnightMuse said:
There is but one question we all yearn to have answered.

Thanks, MM. This is one good way to solve my dillema, and the flow works too.

scarletpeaches said:
You don't get the answer from the question. You get the answer to it.

It's 'to'.

Put the preposition at the end of the sentence. Would you say, "This is the question we all want the answer from?" No. You'd say, "This is the question we all want the answer to."

Awesome explanation, Scarlet. The "to" example I provided in the op is the way I've written it in my WIP.

What can I say, folks? She's a triple threat -- smart, funny, and hot to boot.

Lyx

P.S. Love the avatar.

SpookyWriter · May 3, 2007

Lyxdeslic said:
There is a single question from which we all yearn for the answer.

Thanks, Spook (that makes me sound racisist). To me, though, this is all wrong.

??? How does that make you a racist? Boy oh boy, did that response come from left field.

Lyxdeslic · May 3, 2007

SpookyWriter said:
??? How does that make you a racist? Boy oh boy, did that response come from left field.

Man, relax, you've misinterpreted my meaning. It was a lousy attempt, on my part, at humor. "Spook" -- what racists call black people. Bad joke but I don't understand why you're getting huffy?

Lyx

maestrowork · May 3, 2007

I have the answer for you. I have the answer to the question.

So the correct answer is: "to which."

Lyxdeslic · May 3, 2007

maestrowork said:
I have the answer for you. I have the answer to the question.

So the correct answer is: "to which."

Awesome! Thanks, Maestro.

scarletpeaches · May 3, 2007

He's hot, I'm hot. We should get together. :e2brows:

Bartholomew · May 3, 2007

scarletpeaches said:
He's hot, I'm hot. We should get together.

I'm hot. I even thought about turning on the air conditioner. So why don't we hook up? Salga conmigo, baby.

SpookyWriter · May 3, 2007

Lyxdeslic said:
Man, relax, you've misinterpreted my meaning. It was a lousy attempt, on my part, at humor. "Spook" -- what racists call black people. Bad joke but I don't understand why you're getting huffy?

Lyx

Huffy? Me huffy? I will tell you I don't get huffy or puffy. I might like a muffy once in a while, but no one has ever accused me of getting or being huffy. Hmmm...how about duffy? Is that a real word?

Bartholomew · May 3, 2007

SpookyWriter said:
Huffy? Me huffy? I will tell you I don't get huffy or puffy. I might like a muffy once in a while, but no one has ever accused me of getting or being huffy. Hmmm...how about duffy? Is that a real word?

OMG! SPOOKY! Watch your language!

It's doing tricks.

absitinvidia · May 3, 2007

Maybe it's just me, but why don't you simply write:

There is a single question we all yearn for the answer to

instead?

The prohibition against prepostions at the end of a sentence is artificial--I've never seen it in a reputable grammar book--and you don't have to put the sentence through any contortions this way.

Plot Device · May 3, 2007

Scarlet has it right.

Devil Ledbetter · May 3, 2007

We all yearn for the answer to a single question.

benbradley · May 3, 2007

absitinvidia said:
...
There is a single question we all yearn for the answer to
...

That is a mangllification of The English Language, up with which I will not put!

Devil Ledbetter · May 3, 2007

benbradley said:
That is a mangllification of The English Language, up with which I will not put!

You mean a preposition is something I must never end a sentence with?

dub · May 3, 2007

Why not kill the useless preposition.

"There is a single question; we all yearn for the answer."

I think the two independent clauses are much stonger without the prepostion and relative pronoun.

Plot Device · May 3, 2007

benbradley said:
That is a mangllification of The English Language, up with which I will not put!

ha!

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1309868#post1309868

Great minds, yadda yadda!

(A Snickers Bar to whoever can name the famous person who first originated that quote!)

ResearchGuy · May 3, 2007

a. Rethink the opening sentence entirely; or

b. "We all yearn for the answer to a single question."

Context would be helpful. Like . . . what follows.

--Ken

eliflauta · May 3, 2007

scarletpeaches said:
You don't get the answer from the question. You get the answer to it.

It's 'to'.

Put the preposition at the end of the sentence. Would you say, "This is the question we all want the answer from?" No. You'd say, "This is the question we all want the answer to."

Or you could just rewrite the sentence so it reads better. Both original ways gave me a bit of a headache trying to unravel it and really understand what it said. It was like the first time I read Shakespeare. It's a damn good sentence, but it takes a bit of effort to fully comprehend.

Flay · May 3, 2007

Devil Ledbetter said:
We all yearn for the answer to a single question.

What she said.

maestrowork · May 4, 2007

It happens all the time: someone asks a grammar question, and 10 people want to rewrite the (sample) sentence. Writers.

The question has been answered. Close thread.

Hi all! I've got a bugger of a sentence here. :)

Laughing every time I choke.

Waiting for love on the web

Midnight Reading

Laughing every time I choke.

Laughing every time I choke.

Fear the Death Ray

Laughing every time I choke.

Comic guy

Comic guy

A bit of a wallflower

A woman said to write like a man.

Come on you stranger, you legend,

It's a doggy dog world

Come on you stranger, you legend,

He ain't right...

A woman said to write like a man.

Resident Curmudgeon

Fear the Death Ray