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Should I say "Where are you at now?" or "Where are you now at?"

Which is grammatically correct? And is there any difference in meaning between the two?

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  • Are these at all correct forms? There's no noun for "at" to go with. I would think you'd rather say either "Where are you now" or "What are you at now". I'd welcome other people's takes on this. – evgeny Jul 28 '12 at 8:33
  • I was going to answer that I was told not to end a sentence with a preposition, but... I found this question. Read the first answer: english.stackexchange.com/questions/16/… – BillyNair Jul 28 '12 at 8:38
  • @evgeny I think that the noun is "you". – J. Walker Jul 28 '12 at 19:03
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    The object of "at" in this sentence is "where". – Mark Beadles Jul 28 '12 at 20:12
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    Related Language Log post: “Where we're at”. – RegDwigнt♦ Aug 21 '12 at 13:17
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Both are possible in speech, although the first is probably more likely. They can be:

a) an inquiry about someone's location;

b) an inquiry about someone's mental, spiritual or emotional state; or

c) an inquiry about which page someone has reached in a book.

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4

Neither example feels very comfortable grammatically although I feel this is perhaps a BE view. We used to say 'a preposition should never be used to end a sentence with.' In fact, the use of at in either case seems redundant since both examples make sense without it.

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    1. The supposed rule against ending a sentence with a preposition is not, and never was, correct. 2. Redundancy is not a failure of communication, but rather an essential part of it. – Mark Beadles Jul 28 '12 at 16:13
  • @MarkBeadles I was careful in my reply not to be dogmatic although I feel you have tended towards it yourself. There is no absolute rule for either of your statements and, if you down-voted the answer, it seems a little unfair. – Tony Balmforth Jul 28 '12 at 16:37
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    Ah, don't let what's fair or unfair bother you too much here on StackExchange, that'll just drive you mad :) Take a downvote as a sign that people care enough to read your answer and give it some thought. On the matter at hand: my opinion is that your answer wasn't as helpful to the questioner as it might have been, since although you said neither form feels comfortable, you didn't give clear suggestions as to what might be better. – Mark Beadles Jul 28 '12 at 18:31
  • @MarkBeadles There I go being over-sensitive! Thanks. – Tony Balmforth Jul 28 '12 at 19:13
  • You're right, Tony. Both examples make sense without the word at. From a British perspective, at least. It's an unnecessary, added extra. I suspect that it is an example of American English. – Tristan Aug 21 '12 at 13:45
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Neither is correct. Never end a sentence with the word "at". "Where are you now?" Or "Where are you?" There is no reason to add "at" to this sentence.

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