What is the grammatical function of “which” in this sentence?

I am trying to understand various instances in Hansard, the documentation of proceedings in the UK parliament, wherein the word which is used in an unusual (by my modern parlance, at least) position, one assumes in a formal manner. An example arises in the choice of words used to introduce a Commission in the House … Read more

When can a subjective relative pronoun and the verb “be” not be omitted in a sentence?

There have always been recommendations which are made to athletes. I know “which are” can be omitted in the above sentence. Also, I learned that a subjective relative pronoun and the verb “be” cannot be omitted in some cases. Can you explain when they cannot be omitted? Can a subjective relative pronoun and the verb … Read more

double negative – no one ~ who hadn’t also

No one would want to be famous who hadn’t also, somewhere in the past, been made to feel extremely insignificant. Is the sentence a double negative? Is “who” a relative pronoun which modifies “one”? Is the subjunctive mood be used in the above sentence? Answer Yes, “who” relates back to “no one.” To illustrate, I’ll … Read more

My understanding about the non-restrictive use of the relative clause in a partcular sentence

Almost every chinese who works at an iPhone manifacture in China usually uses a china-produced phone, which is way cheaper. I just want to make sure if my understanding especially about the non-restrictive use of the relative clause in the sentence above is correct. What I understand about it is “china-produced phones are generally (or … Read more

Can the relative pronoun “where” be omitted in a relative clause with the preposition “in”?

Can the following sentences: It’s the church where the painting burned./It’s the church in which the painting burned. be transformed so that they do not contain the pronoun which/where in the following way: It’s the church the painting burnt in. Answer Yes, the relative pronoun can be omitted. In informal styles, we often leave out … Read more

dislocation with ‘whoever’ or ‘whatever’

CaGEL* has this section on ‘dislocation’ (Page 1411): Can the dislocated NP be in the form of a fused relative construction headed by ‘whoever’ or ‘whatever’? Specifically, in the following set of examples, are [ii] and [iii] dislocated versions of the non-dislocated [i]? [1′] i Whoever her parents are must be worried sick. [non-dislocated version?] … Read more

Using ‘that’ to refer to a clause

I was studying about the uses of that where I stumbled upon this common mistake pertinent to the use of ‘that’. For e.g: The goalkeeper blocked two penalty kicks in the second half, and that made his team win the match. This usage of that is wrong as ‘that’ can’t refer to an action, such … Read more

usage of relative pronoun

Can you please why author used “there” instead of “this” or “these” in the second sentence( first word)? Thanks for the help 🙂 Dickie is here developing a direction pointed to in the other (and earlier) of the two most influential writings in institutional theory, “The art world” by Arthur Danto (1964) (to which I … Read more

most of whose was from

Oxford Modern English Grammar (OMEG) by Bas Aarts has these passages on page 52: … … … … Sentence (40) is apparently taken from an Independent article “How Tuna Conquered the World“. Two prior paragraphs along with Sentence (40) are shown here: Some populations, such as leatherback turtles, are being heavily damaged; pushed to the … Read more