説明
English often keeps a preposition at the end of a question. This is normal in everyday speech.
For example, "Who are you waiting for?" means you want to know the person. "Who" asks about the person, "are you waiting" is the main question, and "for" belongs with "waiting". Japanese often changes the word order, so learners may try "For who are you waiting?", but that sounds unnatural in modern English.
英語では、疑問文の前置詞を文末に残すことがよくあります。ふだんの会話ではとても自然です。
たとえば "Who are you waiting for?" は、「だれを待っているの？」という意味です。"who" が相手をたずね、"are you waiting" が文の中心で、"for" は "waiting" にくっつく前置詞です。日本語は語順を変えやすいので、学習者は "For who are you waiting?" と言いたくなりますが、現代英語では不自然です。
例文
- Who are you waiting for? だれを待っているの？
- What is this key for? この鍵は何のため？
- Who did you go with? だれと行ったの？
- Where did you get that from? それ、どこで手に入れたの？
- What are you looking at? 何を見ているの？
- Who didn't you talk to? だれと話さなかったの？
よくある間違い
Japanese learners often put the preposition before the question word, for example, "For who are you waiting?" or "To who did you talk?" In natural English, the preposition usually stays at the end: "Who are you waiting for?" and "Who did you talk to?" The formal form "To whom..." is correct, but it is not common in everyday speech.
日本人学習者は、前置詞を疑問詞の前に置いてしまいがちです。たとえば "For who are you waiting?" や "To who did you talk?" は不自然です。日常英語では前置詞を文末に残して、"Who are you waiting for?" や "Who did you talk to?" と言います。"To whom..." という形も正しいですが、ふだんの会話ではあまり使いません。