Relative Pronouns & Prepositions

Question

When do you use a prepositions a, de, or en after a relative pronoun and when do you know which one to use? For example, the following sentences below.

¿Es ésta la escuela a que asististe?
Leí la novela de que hablabas.
No es el banco en que deposité mi dinero.

Answer 1

In those cases, you need a/de/en BEFORE the relative pronoun because they were used when the noun was in a different place:

Asististe a la escuela. ---> la escuela a que asististe

You attended (to) the school. ----> the school (to which) you attended

Hablabas de la novela ---> la novela de que hablabas

You were talking about the novel ---> the novel about which you were talking

Deposité mi dinero en el banco ---> el banco en que deposité mi dinero

I deposited my money in the bank ---> the bank in which I deposited my money

True English grammar rejects hanging prepositions, yet many speakers use them. Spanish rejects hanging prepositions ALL the time so you always need to embed that preposition back before the relative pronoun.

(The "bad" English would be: "The school you went to" / "the novel you were talking about" and "the bank I deposited my money in"... English speakers all say it, but its "WRONG".)

Well, there is the argument about if it is said and it is understood then the rule is just outdated. - 0074b507, Apr 6, 2011

But in formal written English, the preposition at the end should be avoided, so it's not outdated, just not used informally. - Luciente, Apr 6, 2011