Prepositions · CEFR B2 · Confident
Who are you talking to? — English prepositions
In everyday English the preposition stays at the end of the question. Moving it to the front is correct but sounds formal to the point of strange.
The shape
question word … verb + preposition?
Ask a natural question instead of a stiff one.
In Hindi
रोज़ की अंग्रेज़ी में preposition सवाल के आख़िर में रहता है। उसे आगे लाना बहुत औपचारिक लगता है।
CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.
The mistake to fix first
The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.
| Commonly said | Correct English |
|---|---|
To whom you are talking? | Who are you talking to? Everyday English leaves the preposition at the end and uses "who". |
Learn these first
These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.
Questions people ask
- What is the who are you talking to? used for?
- In everyday English the preposition stays at the end of the question. Moving it to the front is correct but sounds formal to the point of strange. In practice: ask a natural question instead of a stiff one.
- How do you form the who are you talking to??
- question word … verb + preposition?.
- What is the most common mistake with the who are you talking to??
- Saying “To whom you are talking?” instead of “Who are you talking to?”. Everyday English leaves the preposition at the end and uses "who".
Where who are you talking to? fits
Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.
Who are you talking to? is a CEFR B2 structure — the confident band — and it belongs to prepositions. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.
Reading it is not the same as saying it.
CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.
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