The police found an old coin which date had become worn and illegible.
The police found an old coin whose date had become worn and illegible.
I have no idea why the first sentence is ungrammatical. I should think that which above is an relative adjective
As far as I know, the following sentences are grammatical.
Cigarette smoke has been found to be a direct cause of lung cancer in rats used in government studies, which fact suggests that a similar casual relationship may exist between smoking and cancer in humans as well.
Almost no funding is available now for basic research, which situation is surely the result of shortsighted government policies.
Almost no funding is available now for basic research, which intolerable situation is surely the result of shortsighted government policies.
anonymousThe police found an old coin which date had become worn and illegible.
You need a possessive relative pronoun: The coin's date ... -> ( the coin whose date ....)
Alternatively you need a preposition: The date on the coin had... -> (the coin on which the date ....
Cigarette smoke has been found to be a direct cause of lung cancer in rats used in government studies, which fact suggests that a similar casual relationship may exist between smoking and cancer in humans as well.
The sentence is not grammatical. "Which" is the subject of the verb "suggests". Having two subjects is not grammatical.
The results of a research study are not considered to be a fact. They are evidence of a relationship.
Facts are much more concrete and indisputable.. For example, John F. Kennedy was born in 1913.
Almost no funding is available now for basic research, which situation is surely the result of shortsighted government policies.
That is not grammatical either. "Which + noun" is used for questions.
The situation can be A or B.
Which situation is it?
Here is a correction to the sentence:
Almost no funding is available now for basic research and that (situation) is surely the result of shortsighted government policies.
Almost no funding is available now for basic research and that intolerable situation is surely the result of shortsighted government policies.
anonymousAs far as I know, the following sentences are grammatical.
Cigarette smoke has been found to be a direct cause of lung cancer in rats used in government studies, which fact suggests that a similar casual relationship may exist between smoking and cancer in humans as well. Everything before the comma is the fact in question.
Almost no funding is available now for basic research, which situation is surely the result of shortsighted government policies.
Everything before the comma is the situation in question.Almost no funding is available now for basic research, which intolerable situation is surely the result of shortsighted government policies. Everything before the comma is the situation in question.
Note that in all the examples above the relative clause is non-restrictive; hence, the comma. You can paraphrase 'which fact' as 'this fact' and 'which situation' as 'this situation'.
Contrast:
anonymousThe police found an old coin which date had become worn and illegible.
The clause before 'which' is NOT the date, nor does it contain a date. This is a restrictive relative clause. There is no comma. You cannot paraphrase 'which date' as 'this date' because there is no date previously mentioned that you can possibly be referring to. That's why this one is wrong. You might, however, have the following, where a date is actually mentioned before the relative clause refers to it:
The police found a coin dated 1845, which date was nearly illegible.
In short, you can't use relative adjectives in places where there is nothing in the previous text for them to refer to. In general this means relative adjectives don't often occur in restrictive relative clauses.
CJ
This is odd because coins usually have a year written on them.
The correct terminology is "date" though.
https://www.money.org/numismatic-blog/dating-collectible-coins
Do you think the following sentence is also ungrammatical?
They may refuse to follow the agreement, in which case we shall have to take more drastic action.
My grammar book says it's a relative adjective. (Randolph Quirk calls it a relative determiner)
The letter was written in French, which language I happened to know well.
The letter was written in French, which I happened to know well. (relative pronoun)
The plane may be several hours late, in which case there's no point in our waiting.
She was told not to leave her house late at night, which advice she followed.
They were under water for several hours, from which experience they emerged unharmed.
According to A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (Quirk 1985 p.1259)
Where the relative pronoun is a determinative in a noun phrase, there is again less choice than in restrictive clauses. Expressions with which tend to be uncommon except in formally precise writing. The preposition usually precedes which, and explicitness often extends to completion of the prepositional phrase by a general noun, locative or temporal, as the case may be (making which a relative determiner):
He came in 1960, [in which] there was a civil war.
He came in 1960, [in which year] there was a civil war.
He came in 1960, [at which time] there was a civil war.
->He came in 1960, [when] there was a civil war.
In 1960 he came to London, [in which] he has lived ever since.
In 1960 he came to London, [in which city] he has lived sever since.
->In 1960 he came to London, [where] he has lived ever since.
According to Practical English Usage (Swan 1995 p.477)
which can be used as a determiner in relative clauses, with a general noun which repeats the meaning of what came before. This structure is rather formal, and is mainly used after prepositions, especially in some fixed phrases like in which case and at which point.
She may be late, [in which case] we ought to wait for her.
He lost his temper, [at which point] I decided to go home.
He was appointed Lord Chancellor, [in which post] he spent the rest of his life.
He spoke in Greek, [which language] I could only follow with difficulty.
P.S. Now I think I know why this sentence is ungrammatical.
The police found an old coin which date had become worn and illegible. (X)
This one should be: The police found an old coin, which date had become worn and illegible.
Of course, the most common one is: The police found an old coin whose date had become worn and illegible.
The comma does not fix that sentence. The comma is optional in the grammatical rewrite. It just changes the dependent clause from essential to non-essential (or defining / nondefining, or restrictive / non-restrictive).
And both work ok. The choice depends on the context.
The dependent clause can be written as a main clause with a pronoun referring to "coin."
Another possible sentence focuses on the date, perhaps as forensic evidence in a cold case.
In this sentence, it would be written as a non-defining clause set off by commas.