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JKBelieve Posted 21 years ago
'And decisions have been made-by omission, negliect, inertia-that cannot be unmade.'
That just looks really weird...........'decisions have been made that cannot be unmade'
shouldn't it be 'decisions which cannot be unmade have been made' ?
Grammar
A very confusing passage
'And decisions have been made-by omission, negliect, inertia-that cannot be unmade.'
That just looks really weird...........'decisions have been made that cannot be unmade'
shouldn't it be 'decisions which cannot be unmade have been made' ?
Top answer
No, it seems OK to me... I guess the author chose the words and the construction on purpose to make the sentence striking.
- No, it seems OK to me...
- I guess the author chose the words and the construction on purpose to make the sentence striking.
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5 Answers
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No, it seems OK to me...
I guess the author chose the words and the construction on purpose to make the sentence striking.
I guess the author chose the words and the construction on purpose to make the sentence striking.
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Yes; 'unmade' as in 'reversed'.
If you make a mess, you can tidy it up ('un-make the mess').
But if you make a cake, you can't 'unmake' it.
MrP
If you make a mess, you can tidy it up ('un-make the mess').
But if you make a cake, you can't 'unmake' it.
MrP
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I suppose it 'should be' the way you state it, but that's if you want the most neutral way of saying it. You can move a relative clause to the right of its normal position for stylistic effect -- or if it is too long to be easily grasped in the normal position.
CJ
CJ
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Hello JKB
(EX1-a) [Decisions [that cannot be unmade] have been made by omission, neglect, inertia].
(Ex1-b) [Decisions have been made by omission, neglect, inertia] [that cannot be unmade]
As JC said, people often move an adjective that-clause to avoid too long/heavy constituents at the head or in middle of sentences. Linguists call this kind of rightward mo
(EX1-a) [Decisions [that cannot be unmade] have been made by omission, neglect, inertia].
(Ex1-b) [Decisions have been made by omission, neglect, inertia] [that cannot be unmade]
As JC said, people often move an adjective that-clause to avoid too long/heavy constituents at the head or in middle of sentences. Linguists call this kind of rightward mo
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