Search results for 'tag:Pronouns tag:Clauses' matching tags 'Pronouns' and 'Clauses'

Re: The woman did so/such without hesitation

Clive — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:44:34 GMT

Hi,
A wise woman traveling in the mountains found a precious stone. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry. The wise woman generously opened her bag to share her food with the traveler. When the hungry traveler saw the precious stone, he asked her to give it to him. She did so/such without hesitation ...

Do both so and such fit in the above to you? "So' here is a pronoun representing a clause, roughly speaking 'the thing that he asked her to do'. 'Such' can also be used as a pronoun, eg 'Such were his words' but it doesn't work well if you try to use it instead of a clause.

If no, could you dig up a reason? I wouldn't absolutely say that it is wrong to use 'such' here, but it sounds wrong. It doesn't fit well. ie It's not idiomatic.

Best wishes, Clive

that or which

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:04:55 GMT

Hi,

I tried to find some good information of "which and that" distinction online and have acquired some good information, thanks to them.

In the suite101.com's website with what I would call an online search phrase of "That or Which? Don't Misuse These Relative Pronouns." it had this as an exception to the usual rule of that for a restrictive clause and which for a non-restrictive clause.

Exception to the Rule

Like a number of grammatical rules in English as well as other languages, this one has an exception. The exception should only be used when a sentence has more than one dependent clause or when âthatâ has been used in another role. Take a look at the following example.

That idea, which has been discussed thoroughly, no longer needs to be addressed.

If âthis,â âthat,â âthese,â or âthoseâ has already been used to either as an adjective or to introduce the first clause, use âwhichâ to introduce the next one, whether the information is essential or nonessential.

1. Can you tell me what it means by its last sentence?
2. I think I heard that 'which' is used for a restrictive clause that doesn't have commas. What confuses me is that it seems to be the words that describe the recommendation for the use of 'that'. I think I also heard that 'which' can and should be used for some restrictive clause cases -- and with which I agree.

Re: whomever or whoever?

MrPedantic — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:19:34 GMT

Except where the relative pronoun is the subject of the following clause, e.g.

1. I'll give Â£10 to whoever wants it.

MrP

Re: subject verb agreement ^^

Avangi — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:46:43 GMT

they bring         news is

laptops are       she brings

laptops are        they bring

There's an "understood" which she brings. This relative clause takes the pronoun out of contention for subject of the sentence, since it is instead subject of "brings" in the clause. The clause modifies "news."

shorts are

pair is    (one pair)

pairs are      What do you mean by "one noun"?   In "pair of shorts," "shorts" is object of the preposition, and not part of the simple subject. The prepositional phrase then modifies "pair."

music and writing are          her talent lies     OR her talents lie   (talent may be countable or uncountable)

no effort!

Once you identify the verb, think a little bit about what the subject really is   -   what/who is performing that exact action, etc.

Edit. Kooyeen's "music and writing is" raises a thorny problem. I'm not sure of the solution.

Where did you do your undergraduate work? (reply) Harvard and Yale. / I did it at Harvard and Yale. / Harvard and Yale is /are where I did my undergraduate work.

Re: 1)How can we correct the sentence:

Mister Micawber — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:25:12 GMT

The answer was e. But I have never seen a "because" after comma-- A comma can appear after because if the clause is less restrictive.

2) The meaning of his words was even more elusive in his own country than either Europe or Latin America ( the underscore is a wrong phrase)

Can we replace the underscored phrase with "either in Europe or Latin Am" or " in either Europe or Latin Am"?-- I'd use the latter, but something is fishy about your underlining.

3) On my preparing for exam, I came up with this sentence:

Spot the error:

Kelly is proud of her own abilities to mediate disputes more than any of her other strength. No error

The answer was C ( as the book says) but here is its explanation:

"Does the subordinate clause fit within the context of the sentenc? ( A) uses the correct verb tense and the verb agrees w/ subject Kelly. (B) shows the correct feminine sing. pronoun, referring to Kelly (C) shows the correct infi. form of the verb mediate.

So what is the answer??-- There are a lot of errors in what you typed. D is wrong.

4) here is part of a math question I couldn't find out why:

Which is the graph of y= -(x-2)2 (2 outside the bracket means square)?

Graphs drawn below.

And here was the solution:

If f(x) = -x2 , the given equation, y= -(x-2)2, represents f(x-2)

How come they got the last line?-- I have no idea. This is a grammar forum.

1)How can we correct the sentence:

Belly — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:19:06 GMT

1)How can we correct the sentence:

When the eggs hatch, the young turtles go off to take care of themselves, being that female turtles do not nurture their young

a) add "on the other hand" at the beginning

b) insert " as a result" at the bginning"

c) change the comma to semicolon

d) change "hatch" to "hatched"

e) change "being that"-> "because"

The answer was e. But I have never seen a "because" after comma

2) The meaning of his words was even more elusive in his own country than either Europe or Latin America ( the underscore is a wrong phrase)

Can we replace the underscored phrase with "either in Europe or Latin Am" or " in either Europe or Latin Am"?

3) On my preparing for exam, I came up with this sentence:

Spot the error:

Kelly is proud of her own abilities to mediate disputes more than any of her other strength. No error

The answer was C ( as the book says) but here is its explanation:

So what is the answer??

4) here is part of a math question I couldn't find out why:

Which is the graph of y= -(x-2)2 (2 outside the bracket means square)?

Graphs drawn below.

And here was the solution:

If f(x) = -x2 , the given equation, y= -(x-2)2, represents f(x-2)

How come they got the last line?

Re: Suggest + "not do" - verb pattern

Tanit — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:43:30 GMT

Hi YC,

Thanks for this extensive and detailed answer! Wow!

YoungCalifornian
However, you've complicated things by using the complicated predicate "to do X" in your sentences' subordinate clauses. I'm assuming that "Y" always represents a personal pronoun (or proper noun), but "X" could be either a demonstrative pronoun (or regular noun in certain cases) or a verb depending on your meaning.

I'm sorry for overlooking this. I was thinking of X as a demonstrative pronoun only -- but you're absolutely right, I should've made it clear.

Re: Suggest + "not do" - verb pattern

YoungCalifornian — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:33:12 GMT

Tanit
But I'm stuck with a sentence where "to do" is replaced by "not to do":

    a1) I suggest not doing X.                         (I reckon this is fine)
    a2) I suggest not to do X.                          (???)
    b1) I suggest [that] Y shouldn't do X.         (I reckon this is fine)
    b2) I suggest [that] Y [not do | don't] X.      (this sounds terribly bad!)

Your questions stem from the use of the mandative subjunctive, which arises in turn from the use of the verb "to suggest." However, you've complicated things by using the complicated predicate "to do X" in your sentences' subordinate clauses. I'm assuming that "Y" always represents a personal pronoun (or proper noun), but "X" could be either a demonstrative pronoun (or regular noun in certain cases) or a verb depending on your meaning.

a1) This construction is fine if "X" is a demonstrative pronoun, but incorrect if represents a verb.

a2) This construction is incorrect. If "X" is a demonstrative pronoun, the verb "to do" must be changed from the infinitive to the subjunctive and a personal pronoun added so that the sentence reads I suggest Y not do X. This makes the subordinate clause a content clause, which means that the word "that" could be added as you've done in example b2). The sentence will not work at all if "X" is a verb.

b1) While this construction is not grammatically incorrect, it can sound too passive when "suggest" and "should" are in close proximity. Anyway, that's assuming that "X" is once again a demonstrative pronoun. This construction will not work if "X" is a verb.

b2) It may not seem like it, but switching between "not do" or "don't" (i.e. "do not" ) dramatically changes this sentence. They cannot be used interchangably in this context. As I mentioned above, the "not do" construction works fine if "X" is a demonstrative pronoun. However, if "X" is a (subjunctive) verb then "do not" or "don't" (or does not/doesn't for singular third person pronouns) must be used.

I apologize if this sounds complicated, but it's a result of using an auxiliary verb in your example predicates. If you replace "to do X" with a simpler verb it would probably be clearer. Basically, your two options are to follow the verb "to suggest" with either a gerund or the subjunctive. Either way, the word "not" would precede the dependent verb should you choose to make it negative. Looking ahead, I've used the verb "to interview" in an example of each construction.

Gerund: I suggest (not) interviewing...
Subjunctive: I suggest (that) he (not) interview...

Here's the sentence I'm trying to write (it's for a research paper):

1. "Issues of availability, together with constraints on time and scope of the research, suggested not interviewing any member of the scientific committee."
2. "Issues of availability, together with constraints on time and scope of the research, suggested not to interview any member of the scientific committee."
3. "Issues of availability, together with constraints on time and scope of the research, suggested that no member of the scientific committee should be interviewed."

I'd go for no. 1 (no. 3 seems to carry a different meaning ... or am I wrong?), but I am not sure about that. What do you think?
I'm also trying (with little, if any, success) to work out the general pattern.

Both the first and third examples work. The first is the gerund construction, the third is the subjunctive construction. The second is incorrect. However, despite being technically correct, both the first and third examples still sound awkward. Ultimately, I think this is because it sounds strange for "issues" to suggest something directly. Typically they would suggest something to someone. For instance, I think that "Issues of availability... suggest not interviewing any member of the scientific committee to me" or "Issues of availability... suggest to me that no member of the scientific committee should be interviewed" both sound better.

Re: Use either "than me" or "than I am." Purists may tell you that the latter i

Yoong Liat — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:59:22 GMT

If you want to follow what a grammarian has to say, the following posted earlier is reproduced for your information.

If you use a personal pronoun on its own after than, it must be an object pronoun such as 'me' or 'him.' It used to be considered correct to use a subject pronoun such as 'I' or 'he', but this now sounds very old-fashoined.

My brother is younger than me.
Lamin is shorter than her.

However, if the pronoun is the subject of a clause, you use a subject pronoun.

They knew my past much better than she did.
He's taller than I am.

(Collins Cobuild English Usage)

Re: pronoun help

CalifJim — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:26:32 GMT

Welcome to English Forums!

All four are possible. A and B are perhaps more formal.

happening is a gerund.

its/their/it/them happening again is a non-finite clause. It's a complement of the verb avoid. It's not a modifier.