A basic grammar rule, which is admittedly sometimes broken, is not to end a sentence with a preposition. This is why “Where you at?” is not correct grammar.
How do you correct it? Simple:
“Where you at?” = incorrect
“Where are you?” = correct
Not only does “Where you at?” end in a preposition, it also is missing the verb “are.” Every sentence, whether interrogative or otherwise, needs a verb.
Another example:
“Where’s the ticket at?” Again, the fix is simple:
“Where’s the ticket?” Simply removing the preposition at the end of the question, in this case, solves the problem.
“I don’t know where he’s at,” similarly, can become simply “I don’t know where he is.” (SEE ALSO: ‘Mortified’: It Doesn’t Mean Scared)
When I first started teaching, I was pretty vigilant against this type of formulation: “Where’s it at?” etc. It seemed to become popular around 2010, signaling a decline in grammar and possibly a drop in national IQ. I hardly bother correcting people on it anymore, given how overwhelmingly frequent its usage has become. Admittedly, it does kind of roll off the tongue to end a sentence with “at.” You hit the “t” consonant like a snare drum, putting a fine point on your ungrammatical statement or question.
If you’re trying to come off as someone with a degree of literacy, however, this will not do. Better to stick to that classic grammar rule: Don’t end a sentence with a preposition.
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Comment below:
5 responses to “‘Where You at?’ Is Bad Grammar ”
Sadly, this “basic grammar rule” was made up by grammarians that wanted english, where preposition stranding is completely natural given its extensive use of prepositional verbs, to look more like latin, where this was an actual grammar rule and which its descendants inherited.
This is what “The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language” has to say about it, chapter 7, section 4.1:
“There has been a long prescriptive tradition of condemning preposition stranding as grammatically incorrect. Stranded prepositions often, but by no means always, occur at the end of a sentence, and the prescriptive rule is best known in the formulation: ‘It is incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition.’ […]
*The ‘rule’ was apparently created ex nihilo in 1672 by the essayist John Dryden, who took exception to Ben Jonson’s phrase ‘the bodies that those souls were frighted from’ (1611). Dryden was in effect suggesting that Jonson should have written ‘the bodies from which those souls were frighted’, but he offers no reason for preferring this to the original.”
your recomendations hold true in latin; not english. english is a wholly different language then latin. if you want a language that always adheres to latin grammer; there is one, it is called latin, go speak that instead of english.
@noah I respectfully disagree. While you’re right that the grammar rule originates in Latin, and it can sometimes be broken, “where you at” is not a good place to break it.
it has never been a real rule of English; English is not derived from Latin; English is a germanic language; its closest siblings are dutch and german. both german and dutch can end sentences in prepositions (German has some cases where this is mandatory). Saying ending sentences in prepositions is wrong because you can’t do it in Latin is like saying you can’t put adverbs before the verb because in Irish this is not possible outside of poetry (Irish sentences put the verb at the very start); the rule is fake nonsense; that does not so much as deserve any consideration. trying to adhere to it creates more awkward sentences then it avoids. shakespear, chaucer dickens, the translators of the king james version of the bible all ended sentences with prepositions. even the ignoramus who the idea that it was wrong seems to come from wrote “this is an idiom which our speech is strongly inclined to.” (wheather or not he noticed the irony is a secret he took to his grave). latin grammer has zero relevence to correct english. if the rule doesn’t exist, you don’t even have to be carefull about breaking it; just do it whenever and however you want. go speak Latin if you have a problem with preposition stranding. furthermore the location asked for becomes more exact with the preposition here.
To put the Latin debate to the side for the moment, are you suggesting that “where you at” is good grammar? Just based on usage alone we can say that it’s not, however you might want to analyze the whys and wherefores.