Timeline for The grammatical function of "How"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
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| Jun 15, 2020 at 7:40 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
Commonmark migration
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| Jun 27, 2011 at 19:35 | comment | added | Peter Shor | You've convinced me. It's a relative adverb, and not a conjunction. Unless someone objects, I'll change my answer. It does seem that the Oxford dictionaries should be the proper authority on these matters. | |
| Jun 27, 2011 at 17:00 | history | edited | Peter Shor | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 115 characters in body
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| Jun 27, 2011 at 15:46 | comment | added | Kosmonaut | @Matt Ellen: Yup, there we go. That's it. | |
| Jun 27, 2011 at 15:30 | comment | added | Matt E. Эллен | @Kosmonaut: NOAD says relative adverb, if that's helpful: oxforddictionaries.com/definition/how In fact, at the very bottom of the page there is an answer to this question | |
| Jun 27, 2011 at 14:27 | comment | added | Kosmonaut | @Peter Shor: "Did you see [where I bought it]" still contains a relative clause ("where I bought it") and a relative adverb ("where"), as far as I know. So, "he told us [how to do it]" is using how as a relative adverb, as well. I just figured I would find something specifically saying this in a few Google searches but didn't. | |
| Jun 27, 2011 at 14:08 | comment | added | Peter Shor | Using google, I found some sites which said that how was not a relative adverb because it can't be used in phrases such as the store where I bought it, the reason why I called, and the day when I fell in love, but other sites which classified how as a relative adverb (and which would classify how in the above usage as a relative adverb). I don't know how to decide which definition is correct. | |
| Jun 27, 2011 at 13:43 | comment | added | hippietrail | @Kosmonaut: Oh of course you are right. The interrogative words have two uses with distinct names. My bad for commenting on English grammar while trying to switch my brain from Japanese to Turkish (-: | |
| Jun 27, 2011 at 13:38 | comment | added | Kosmonaut | @hippietrail: But since it is not an interrogative sentence, I think "relative adverb" would be the correct term. But when I looked at relative adverbs in style guides, they only list why, when, and where. But I think that is the right term nonetheless. | |
| Jun 27, 2011 at 13:30 | comment | added | hippietrail | Looking at it in another dimension it is an interrogative adverb since it replaces an adverb of manner with a wh- word - but that's not a traditional grammatical view. I agree with Peter about the shoehorning. Grammatical classifications are not perfect. | |
| Jun 27, 2011 at 13:17 | history | answered | Peter Shor | CC BY-SA 3.0 |