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I know many questions have been asked for ending a sentence with a preposition in this community. However none of that seems to be providing the answer which I am looking for in this scenario. Please consider following sentence.

Traditionally celebrities have been considered as one of the very few people who enjoy really luxurious lifestyles where many of us can only dream of.

Is it grammatically correct to end the sentence with the proposition 'of' ? or should I have used something like 'about'.

Pls consider that my English is not that great and I feel little awkward about this sentence I wrote. But unfortunately I can not find a reason. Have I made any other grammatical mistake ?

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I think that, technically, you should say

Traditionally celebrities have been considered as one of the very few people who enjoy really luxurious lifestyles of which many of us can only dream.

To be honest though, people don't speak like that anymore. I would, however, write like that, particularly in a relatively formal setting, such as an essay, paper or publication.

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    Most people never did. It applies a Latin rule that isn't just irrelevant to English, but nonsensical (it exists in Latin precisely because Latin is otherwise much freer in word order, but "dream of which many us only can" isn't proper English just because the preposition is in the "right" place). Dryden took it as proof that he was a better writer than Johnson and Shakespeare, but it wasn't until the 18th C that the fetish for avoiding ending on prepositions just so you cold look down on others arrived. There is no point in history when all good writers followed this so-called "rule".
    – Jon Hanna
    Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 11:40
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    There is no technical rule such as the one quoted. That is, "technically", you may say either one. Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 17:16
  • Sadly, among pedants you sometimes have to avoid ending with a preposition because those pedants are, -- worse luck, -- your manager, parents-in-law, readers, customers, and so on. They're wrong, but often that remains your problem. In this case it's usually better to avoid the usually suggested circumlocution "of/in/at which/whom ...", which to the sane and hearty looks pedantic and tedious. For example, here you could instead say "... who enjoy a luxurious lifestyle which for many of us must remain a dream".
    – Dan
    Commented May 5, 2014 at 0:32
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The of at the end of your sentence seems absolutely no problem to me.

What bothers me more is the reference one of to multiple celebrities. I would change that to some of.

Where we can dream of gives me an itch as well, that we can dream of sounds much better.

Since you refer to a specific lifestyle, I would also add an article to it and make it singular.

Your sentence would become something like this:

Traditionally celebrities have been considered as some of the very few people who enjoy the really luxurious lifestyle that many of us can only dream of.

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  • Thank you very much for the answer. I really appreciate it.
    – user67339
    Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 10:19
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Traditionally celebrities have been considered the very few people who enjoy really luxurious lifestyles that many of us can only dream of.

This is correct.

  • Your where was not correct (it sounds like Dutch, waar...van).

  • The preposition at the end was fine.

  • One of was incorrect, because you are not talking about one person.

  • As was also incorrect, because you consider someone smart, not *as smart.

  • I also think the present perfect have been is a bit odd: I would probably write are considered because it is a timeless fact. But it depends on context.

  • Lastly, I think a non-defining relative clause would be better than your that: I would write a comma followed by which instead.

Here is how I would probably write it myself:

Traditionally, celebrities are considered to be among the very few who enjoy true luxury, which many of us can only dream of.

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  • Changing have been to are changes the meaning of the sentence. Have been gives me the idea something is changing now, and that change will be explained in the rest of the text. "Nowadays, however, by writing a mobile phone application, this luxury can be in reach for anyone who is willing to learn basic programming."
    – oerkelens
    Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 8:46
  • @oerkelens: As I said, it depends on context. But from what little context we have, it seems the intended meaning is a timeless fact, so I would change it to are. The OP might disagree. Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 16:32
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It's linguistically correct; perhaps not "grammatically correct". It speaks to an "economy of speech", and is the normal way of speaking, if not writing. "He mentioned a celebrity I'd never heard of." "He enjoyed a lifestyle I've only dreamt of." "He enjoyed undreamt-of success." All of these seem to leave the preposition hanging without an object, but are perfectly common usages, and unlikely to be criticized.

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    Welcome to English Language and Usage. You need to provide some citation to back up your answer. Commented Feb 10, 2016 at 18:21

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