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English 1b3 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

A question about relative clauses you may never have been asked before

When 'which' is being used as a relative pronoun, it functions in one of the following ways (I hope I haven't forgotten any):

Subject: I used to own three cars, which were all Audis.
Object of preposition: I used to own three cars, all of which were Audis.
Object of verb: I used to own three cars, which a car dealer to me in one fell swoop.

In all instances above, 'which' is part of a relative clause.

Can the relative pronoun 'which' be used in clauses other than relative clauses?

For instance:

I love to use the word 'contrarian' in everyday speech, because the meaning of which accurately describes a number of people I have met in my life.

Thanks
  

Top answer

Your suggested sentence is incorrect, and I can't think of any grammatically comparable use that would be correct.

— GPY

  • Your suggested sentence is incorrect, and I can't think of any grammatically comparable use that would be correct.
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9 Answers
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Your suggested sentence is incorrect, and I can't think of any grammatically comparable use that would be correct.
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GPYYour suggested sentence is incorrect, and I can't think of any grammatically comparable use that would be correct.
Thanks for your reply. I don't need a re-write. I just wanted to know whether or not it was correct and why.

Is anyone else able to shed light on this?
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Well, I think it is incorrect for just the reason you suggest: it is not part of a relative clause.
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English 1b3Can the relative pronoun 'which' be used in clauses other than relative clauses?
"Which" is not exclusively a relative pronoun, but you are asking whether the relative pronoun can be other than a relative pronoun. No. It would not be a relative pronoun, then.
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enoon English 1b3Can the relative pronoun 'which' be used in clauses other than relative clauses?"Which" is not exclusively a relative pronoun, but you are asking whether the relative pronoun can be other than a relative pronoun. No. It would not be a relative pronoun, then.
Right - I would agree it is not a relative pronoun. Would you say 'which' is just a pr
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I meant that your question was "Can the relative pronoun 'which' be used in clauses other than relative clauses?" I'm beginning to think that you don't know what you want to ask about.

I love to use the word 'contrarian' in everyday speech, because the meaning of which accurately describes a number of people I have met i
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enoon(there is "which" as a pronoun referring to a phrase)
Are you saying 'which' in my sentence refers to a phrase or the 'which' used in your sentence? I presume you meant the latter, because In my sentence, 'which' clearly refers to a single word, namely 'contrarian.'

Although you can't explain why my sentence is wrong, perhaps you can explain why
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English 1b3Are you saying 'which' in my sentence refers to a phrase or the 'which' used in your sentence? I presume you meant the latter, because In my sentence, 'which' clearly refers to a single word, namely 'contrarian.'
The latter.
English 1b3 Are you simply saying which in your sentence works because it is now part of a relative cl
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English 1b3Although you can't explain why my sentence is wrong, perhaps you can explain why your second sentence is correct? Are you simply saying which in your sentence works because it is now part of a relative clause as opposed to an adverbial clause as in my sentence?
AFAIK, "... the meaning of which accurately describes a number of people I have met in my
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