Sentence analysis 9/12/06

Hela wrote:

Now, would you please tell me how you would analyse "when" and its clause in the following: The day will come when you will no longer remember my face. All the best, Hela

Hello Hela

I would myself take "when" as a relative adverb in that sentence (pace IK), and the clause as a whole as restrictive.

The version without the second "will" would sound ok to most speakers, I think. Reflecting on my previous post, though, and Marius's comment, it may be that while the first "will" houses "prediction", the second "will" houses "prediction" + "volition" on the speaker's part.

See you later,

MrP

Sorry, I have to eat humble pie.

Tell me when you will arrive.

when you will arrive is a nominal relative clause acting as the direct object of the verb: tell.

A relative pronoun can be replaced by an adjunct form for time: when.

Its use along with its antencedent some find tautologous.

Tell me (that) when you will arrive.

I live and learn.

I have always been of the opinion that a relative clause describes its antecedent.

There is not to be an antecedent for a relative clause.

Hela wrote:

Thanks to all of you. and have a nice week.

Hello

Once more

1) A day will come when you no longer remember my face. 

when you will no longer remember my face = temporal adjunct -- describes the action, not the noun (day),  not an adjectival clause (not relative clause)

A relative clause cannot describe a verb (come), only nouns.

compare

I remember the day when we played in the garden.

when = relative adverb

when we played in the garden = adjectival clause = relative clause, describes the noun, day.

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Tell me when you will arrive

when = adverb and modifies arrive (verb)

when you will arrive = temporal adjunct clause, also the object of tell

me = indirect object.

Hello

'"A day will come when you will no longer remember my face' can be interpreted this way:

[There will be a time] when you will no longer remember my face. If it's true, [when] is a pronoun."

Although the meaning remained intact, you have changed the syntax here, and therefore the syntactical function of the connector has changed.

"A day will come when you will no longer remember my face"

When here modifies the verb, come, and not the subject, a day.

A pronoun cannot replace and refer to a verb. So, when is an adverb connector

Compare

There will be a time when you will no longer remember my face.

time = when = pronoun

Here, the pronoun introducing the nominal relative clause refers to a time (when you will no longer remember my face)

Inchoate

"A day, when you will no longer remember my face, will come."

I cry uncle

F..k

I hope the day will come when I no longer f..k up identifying the sentence elements.

End of story, I hope