Search results for 'tag:Prepositions tag:Relative pronouns' matching tags 'Prepositions' and 'Relative pronouns'

Re: to which

Cool Breeze — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:01:35 GMT

To which, in which etc.consist of a preposition and a relative pronoun. The preposition is usually determined by a verb, noun or adjective. In informal style the preposition is often placed at the end of the relative clause. Examples:

This is the house in which he lives. This is the house [which/that] he lives in.

The preposition is in because that preposition is used with house in this context and meaning: He lives in this house.

I bought the book about which you told me yesterday. I bought the book [which/that] you told me about yesterday.

The preposition is about because that preposition is used when we tell somebody about something: He told me about his problems.

Where is sometimes possible instead of to which or in which, especially when the intended meaning is that the place of something is mentioned:

Take this kettle to the kitchen where it belongs.

But: Ages ago, this island was occupied by Great Britain, to which it belongs even now / which it belongs to even now.

Note that there is a comma in the last sentence. A comma is needed for a certain type of relative clauses. Use the Search box to find out more about them.

Re: correct preposition

Mister Micawber — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:42:51 GMT

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These are not prepositions; they are relative pronouns. There is a small gap here in English-- we do not have a non-human possessive relative pronoun. In your sentence, 'whose' is commonly used ('which' alone is not possible). For those grammarians who object, you will have to rely on the much more formal 'a book for/of which I cannot recall the title'.
.

Re: The difference between 'who' and 'whom'

CalifJim — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:54:52 GMT

Anonymous
I donât like the boy to whom you are talking
I donât like the boy who you are talking to

They are both correct, right?

Yes. They are both correct.

Anonymous
I think "I don't like the boy who you are talking to" is incorrect.

Sorry. You think wrong. You can always use who instead of whom when you leave the preposition 'stranded' at the end. Use whom for very formal contexts.

It would be quite idiomatic to leave out the relative pronoun completely, thus avoiding the use of whom:

I don't like the boy you're talking to.

Re: THAT

Mister Micawber — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 13:04:02 GMT

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That is a relative pronoun or a conjunction, not a preposition.

The hat that I bought is too big.
I wanted to tell him that I bought a hat.

Re: preposition+obj pronoun+?

Avangi — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:44:13 GMT

Anewcomer
Avangi: Hey, i know that "a boy" shouldn't use "do" but in this context "a boy" is not a subject and shouldn't use does, however if does is used in the context (context I'm talking about) " I team up with a boy does 5 subjects" it doesn't make sense at all, unless "who" is included before "does", which I already thought to be true (relative pronoun/clause) and so does the "participle phrase" (doing), which i already know that it's widely used.

Hi Anc - I wasn't suggesting you use does instead of do in your "third type of construction." I thought if I understood why you wanted to use "do" it might give me a clue as to what you have in mind. If you could only give us an example using "do" which you're fairly sure is correct, we might then be able to apply it to the case in hand. - A.

Re: preposition+obj pronoun+?

Anewcomer — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:45:19 GMT

Â Clive : I mean the preposition "with" -> pronoun/noun (a boy) --> participle/relative pronoun. And also others preposition like, of, from, for,after and all this kind of preposition to introduce a subordinate clause . Â I was wondering whether a bare infinitive could be used after the pronoun/noun (a boy), (which i thought to be unlikely, since bare infinitive can't modify pronoun)

Avangi: Hey, i know that "a boy" shouldn't use "do" but in this context "a boy" is not a subject and shouldn't use does, however if does is used in the context (context I'm talking about) " I team up with a boy does 5 subjects" it doesn't make sense at all, Â unless "who" is included before "does", which I already thought to be true (relative pronoun/clause) and so does the "participle phrase" (doing), which i already know that it's widely used.

Re: preposition+obj pronoun+?

Clive — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:26:03 GMT

Hi,

I know that many people use this type of sentence " I team up with a boy doing 5 subjects" (participle) And " I team up with a boy who does 5 subjects"(relative pronoun)

Yes. You can also say 'I team up with a boy who is doing 5 subjects.

But Can one say? : "I team up with a boy do 5 subjects" (???) No.

I believe the "doing" is participle because it's preceded by a noun and not directly after preposition. Think of 'doing 5 subjects' as a shortened form of 'who is doing 5 subjects'. I don't see that it has anything to do with prepositions.

Does this apply to all the sentences with preopositions in this type of context? What preposition are you talking about in your example? The only one I see is 'up', which just part of the phrasal verb 'team up' .

Best wishes, Clive

preposition+obj pronoun+?

Anewcomer — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:38:15 GMT

Dear Teachers

I know that many people use this type of sentence " I team up with a boy doing 5 subjects" (participle) And " I team up with a boy who does 5 subjects"(relative pronoun)

But Can one say? : "I team up with a boy do 5 subjects" (???)

I believe the "doing" is participle because it's preceded by a noun and not directly after preposition.

Does this apply to all the sentences with preopositions in this type of context?

Thanks

Re: Is it a subject relative?

miriam — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:02:36 GMT

Hello.

Relative clauses can only be (from a syntactic point of view) either post-modifiers of nouns/pronouns, or sentence modifiers. They are never objects; they don't modify verbs.

What can be subjects or objects, WITHIN the relative clauses themselves, are the relative pronouns used (who, that, which, etc.).

You provided the following examples: "The girl laughed at the boy who is bigger than her" and "The boy hit the girl who slept".

Both sentences could use some changes, but I will concentrate on what you're asking only.

In the first sentence, "who is bigger than her" is a restrictive relative clause acting as post-modifier of the noun "boy". The relative pronoun "who" is the subject of the relative clause.

Your second sentence is another example of the relative pronoun as subject of the relative clause. The clause is "who slept", with "who" as its subject.

Here are a couple of examples of relative clauses in which the relative pronoun acts as object:

1. "Where is the flower-pot (that I gave you last month)?" [that = direct object] (the subject of the clause is "I")

2. "The books (that are on the table) are Paul's." [that = subject (the books)]

3. "You don't know the man (to whom my sister sold her car)." [to whom = indirect object] (the subject of the clause is "my sister")

There are also cases in which the relative pronoun is preceded by a preposition but you're not in the presence of an indirect object. In such cases, what you'll have is an adjunct (or adverbial), as in the following sentence:

4. "Chemistry is a subject which I've always had problems with." [here, "with which" is neither subject nor object, but an adjunct/adverbial]

You can remove "which" (though not the preposition) from sentence #4, and the sentence will still make sense: "Chemistry is a subject I've always had problems with".

One good way of telling whether the relative pronoun is acting as object (direct or indirect) or subject in the relative clause is trying to remove the pronoun in question from the clause. If you do, and the sentence still makes sense, that will most probably mean that the relative pronoun is the object of the clause (watch out for adjuncts, though). If you can't remove the pronoun, that will mean it's the subject (of the relative clause). Have a look at my examples and give this a try. You won't have a correct sentence in #2 if you remove the relative proboun, but you can certainly remove it in the other three examples. You'll have to make a minor change in sentence #3, though.

See if you can do it and what you come up with.

I hope this helps.

Miriam.

Re: about ' prep. + which + to inf ' structure

Avangi — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:14:41 GMT

nocy
thank you guys for relying //Avangi // i i think (B) also can be correct, because preposition can be put either in front of 'which' or the end of sentence. and i know a relative pronoun can be omitted, when it is objective. if so, isn't 'There is a bench which to sit on.' and 'There is a bench to sit on.' same thing?? this is why i think (B) can be correct answer.. teach me plz

Hi nocy, thanks for taking me up on my offer. Now what am I going to do?

As CJ and Yankee have explained the infinitive in this situation is a special case, and must be either one way or the other. You can't mix and match.

You can throw out the infinitive, and say, "There is a bench which one may sit on," or "There is a bench on which one may sit," but you can't change the rules for the use of the infinitive.

In the old, old days there used to be a prohibition against ending a sentence with a preposition. Every once in a while I run into an old coot who doesn't realize it's been repealed. Amateur grammarians like to have fun with it. I'm trying to remember the example Winston Churchill invented, but it escapes me. Maybe I'll think of it.

Best wishes, - A.