The relative-clause tag has no wiki summary.
1
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1answer
57 views
Singular or plural verb after “what”
Which sentence is more grammatically correct?
He is being tried on what look like trumped-up charges.
He is being tried on what looks like trumped-up charges.
1
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2answers
68 views
confusing use of “of which”
Here's a sentence I find confusing:
The job of a family therapist is to understand the family culture of which the larger culture, with its many layered meanings, is a part.
Which interpretation ...
8
votes
3answers
8k views
Should you use “who” or “that” when talking about multiple people doing something?
Which of the following is correct?
There were 10 people that went to the store.
There were 10 people who went to the store.
Edit:
Which of the following is correct?
There were 10 ...
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3answers
316 views
Is it proper to use “that” instead of “at which” to refer to speed?
On a physics assignment, I believe that these sentences are grammatically incorrect, but some other students disagree (especially on the second one).
What is the maximum speed that the mass can be ...
0
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2answers
83 views
Who does “who” apply to in this example?
His governors, some of them incompetent and tactless, quarrelled bitterly with the people, who were constantly demanding greater political control.
In this sentence, who are demanding greater ...
-1
votes
1answer
57 views
Sentence Structure: Relative Clauses with “who”
I can't analyze the structure of relative clauses.
We are to look only to God, who as He wills makes angels "ministering spirits" to the heirs of salvation.
I guess
... who makes angels as ...
2
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3answers
428 views
Advanced rules for shortening relative clauses with a participle?
Once again, a problem encountered while marking German pupils' exams.
We teach them the following rules:
A present participle can be used to shorten an active relative clause:
The boy who ...
6
votes
5answers
650 views
“all that” vs. “all what”
I’ve heard somebody say:
All what is needed is …
I thought the correct way to phrase it was:
All that is needed is …
However, thinking about it more, the former doesn’t sound too ...
3
votes
3answers
285 views
Can “whose” refer to a first-person subject in the third person?
This question came from a friend. It is from a college entrance exam for non-native English speakers.
Link the following sentences with "whose":
I was a small kid. My classmates laughed at ...
4
votes
2answers
240 views
Can I replace “that is/are (supposed) to” with just “to”?
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
[This method] binds a handler to one or more events to be executed once
for each matched element.
source
Is it just a contraction of the following ...
62
votes
8answers
3k views
2
votes
2answers
631 views
Can adjectives be placed without a noun after them?
Adjectives are placed before nouns. But sometimes I've seen (though I'm not sure if they are correct), things like:
The item placed there
I know that it may be a short way of saying "The item ...
1
vote
1answer
123 views
Is this a relative pronoun or conjunction?
I want to know everything (that) there is to know about you.
I chanced to come across ‘expletive there’ in a syntactic textbook. It says in this type of sentences: there is an expletive, to know ...
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8answers
438 views
“I know that that that school that is famous because of its rules.” — Can this sentence work?
This is the sentence:
I know that that that school that is famous because of its rules.
I think the first that is a relative pronoun, the second also and the third is a demonstrative pronoun, ...
0
votes
2answers
132 views
Multiple objects + relative clause [duplicate]
Which would be best / acceptable?
"He saw people, animals and buildings THAT / WHICH had suffered greatly."
As I see it, there are 3 subjects; people, animals and buildings. The grammar rules I know ...
3
votes
3answers
217 views
Is 'what' both relative adjective and relative pronoun?
The body was no longer twitching. The skin had taken on a milky bluish
tinge. The corner of the mouth seemed to have stopped bleeding, and
what little blood was still visible now appeared very ...
3
votes
4answers
3k views
'Which', 'whose' or something else?
I would appreciate your help phrasing the following:
I am looking for elements
which/whose/... size/sizes is/are relatively large.
4
votes
1answer
769 views
Using “who” for things (nonliving beings)
On an online typing tutor site I came across the following phrase:
We're now going to move on to words who's first letter originates on the top row.
Can "who" normally be used in this way (to ...
1
vote
0answers
177 views
Possessive “that's” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
'Which', 'whose' or something else?
Is the use of "that's" correct in the sentence below?
Imagine a frame with two sets of strings stretched across, ...
5
votes
3answers
438 views
“He was playing when he fell” or “he fell when he was playing”?
Which one is correct?
He fell down when he was playing in the field.
He was playing in the field when he fell down.
Why?
3
votes
2answers
631 views
Are you comfortable with who(m) he is?
Are you comfortable with him? (correct)
Are you comfortable with whom he is? (??)
You're comfortable with whom he is. (??)
Are you comfortable with who he is? (??)
You're comfortable ...
13
votes
9answers
812 views
What rules make “Remember me, who am your friend” grammatical?
An acquaintance recalled this specific example from an English textbook, but it is jarring to my native ear. Is this an example of prescriptive grammarians gone wild?
2
votes
2answers
88 views
Is this a complete sentence or two? [closed]
Given the example (from a British novel, The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life)
Well what did I expect who said it would be easy? I will not let this defeat me. I will persist.
Is the first ...
0
votes
2answers
284 views
Combine these two sentence with relative pronoun
Can I combine these two sentences:
I'll never forget the time.
We were a happy couple then.
To
I'll never forget the time that we were a happy couple.
And more, without "that"
I'll ...
9
votes
2answers
334 views
“That” or “which”? Does it matter?
If I wish to say something along the lines of
Consider the bear that scratches his head.
It seems to me that I could instead say
Consider the bear which scratches his head.
I am unsure ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views
“for which” vs. “for what”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
"Which" vs "what" - what's the difference and when should you use one or the other?
Q: What's the rule-of-thumb on "for which" vs. "for what" ...
3
votes
2answers
86 views
“stopping to refill his cup when she did”
Consider the following sentence:
She got up to get some of the coffee he had made, stopping to refill his cup when she did.
What does the subordinate clause in this sentence mean? Does it mean ...
2
votes
2answers
134 views
correct usage of 'which'
If I say this sentence, would it be meaningful?
Similarly, trees can be described by neighborhood relations which we
can see how trees exist with other objects in reality
Actually what I want ...
1
vote
8answers
212 views
Is this usage of 'for which' correct?
I recently typed the following to a friend in an email:
Last night I went to the theatre to see a play with X. Before that, we went for dinner at a nearby pub for which my cousin came along.
Now ...
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votes
2answers
266 views
Combining 3 sentences [closed]
I am struggling to combine following 3 sentences for a one sentence. I am doubted how to do it. Any suggestions please.
a) Most of the above methods often rely on the crown height model
(CHM)
...
0
votes
1answer
106 views
“Objects in which” vs. “objects where” [closed]
I am confused with the correct usage of in which vs. where in the following example:
However, this pros, is limited for the objets where an edge resides
perpendicular to the ridge-line and ...
1
vote
1answer
452 views
“Whoever” Vs. “Whomever”
On the subject of "whoever" and "whomever", I was reading this but I am still confused: http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/whoever.asp
What is the correct use of whoever/whomever in the following ...
5
votes
1answer
396 views
Relative pronouns after prepositions: is it okay to use them in speech?
Consider the following usages of relative pronouns:
The lecturer introduces a study in which participants were asked
to choose one attractive picture.
At the university I met famous professors, many ...
1
vote
2answers
164 views
Ands and Commas
I'm trying to construct a relative clause that's deliberately crammed with a lot of info. This is to illustrate to someone the flexibility of relative clauses (versus adjectives).
Here's my ...
1
vote
2answers
127 views
Usage: to which? [closed]
I found the following sentence while reading technical documentation
but the use of "to which" doesn't seem right, which expression would you use here ?
Returns a list of lists where the elements ...
2
votes
1answer
574 views
Word order in defining and non-defining relative clauses
With defining relative clauses, there is a different word order according to the status of the relative pronoun in the sentence (that is, it can be either the subject or the object of the relative ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Proper usage of 'which' in a sentence
I read the post Usage of "which", and am trying to frame my own sentence that uses "which".
Consider the sentences below. In the first, I want to say that variable shadowing is the reason ...
3
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1answer
869 views
“that which” used together
When I read essays from Eliot, I find him using "that which" frequently, e.g.
the combination which is the murder of Agamemnon is probably as complex as that which is the voyage of Ulysses.
A ...
2
votes
1answer
297 views
Relative clauses: integrated, restrictive, non-restrictive, supplementary
H. W. Fowler established a terminology (I do not know if it originates with him), where clauses that are related to another clause through a pronoun are called relative clauses; he further drew a ...
1
vote
1answer
134 views
Adjective clause with 'so'
I can't find any grammar reference to the correct usage of a specifying adjective clause. Consider an example:
The physical activity, so vital for the developing body, is often overlooked by the ...
0
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3answers
105 views
“Who or where leave that to”
I was writing an email where I needed to return an item to a person who was not in the office the following day. So I came up with the following and I wonder if it's the the correct way of getting ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
Independent clause markers
I understand independent clauses, and how there are certain markers such as however, therefore, consequently which can denote an independent clause. The common example of use is when one of them ...
1
vote
0answers
19 views
“of which” with more nouns [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
possessive connecting word for inanimate object
I would like to know whether this could be said by using "of which":
Search for a car whose color of the hood is red.
...
0
votes
2answers
136 views
Use of “which” in a sample phrase [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Other ways of saying whichs
Is the following grammatically correct?
Sampling was mainly random, with the exception of some services which indexes, calculated with ...
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votes
4answers
1k views
“More than (what) meets the eye”
Is it correct to say more than what meets the eye? More than meets the eye sounds incorrect, but I've seen a lot of people use it and that confuses me. What acts like an object to the phrase which ...
4
votes
4answers
212 views
Confused with the interpretation of the restrictive relative clause
The sentence:
My sister who is from Chicago visited me last weekend.
The interpretation from YouTube: I have more than one sisters and I am specifically talking about my sister who is from ...
4
votes
6answers
210 views
Help reworking a sentence to make it less ambigious
Are there any rules governing what the "which" refers to in a sentence like this:
Every five minutes, the Node.js application posts a JSON document to
my CouchDB instance which looks like:
...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
Is Anyone/ Who is used together?
The course is for anyone who is interested in learning about computers.
Is there an error in the above sentence formation?
Or can we just say:
The course is for anyone interested in learning ...
3
votes
2answers
310 views
“It is having time to think that makes me depressed” - grammatical function of “that”?
It is having time to think that makes me depressed.
In this sentence, what is the grammatical function of the word that?
Thank you for your help!
2
votes
2answers
107 views
Finnegan's Wake: “the least successful of whom was…” [closed]
Does the following sentence sound awkward because of the positioning of whom?
Beans grew up in a Roman Catholic household with four brothers; the least successful of whom was the bank president.
