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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Defining relative clause with participle and the 2nd person singular
Hello there!
Well, I had an argument withmy friend Julie the other night
What I wanted to say:
You are cute, when you speak German. (Grammatically, she is only cute while speaking German)
But I said:
"You speaking German are cute"
And then she corrected me and said:
It has to be: "You speaking German is cute"
Now I was confused. When I use a defining relative clause with participle, do I have to change the verb (and its numerus) from plural to singular?
Or does the defining relative clause + participle not work with "you" (2nd person singular, not plural)
Cheers, Alex
Well, I had an argument withmy friend Julie the other night
What I wanted to say:
You are cute, when you speak German. (Grammatically, she is only cute while speaking German)
But I said:
"You speaking German are cute"
And then she corrected me and said:
It has to be: "You speaking German is cute"
Now I was confused. When I use a defining relative clause with participle, do I have to change the verb (and its numerus) from plural to singular?
Or does the defining relative clause + participle not work with "you" (2nd person singular, not plural)
Cheers, Alex
Top answer
The better part of valour: Your speaking German is cute.
- The better part of valour: Your speaking German is cute.
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8 Answers
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Alex:
Here's a bit more explaination on Mr. M's valour
Your speaking German is cute.
Speaking is a gerund, and the subject (singular) in the sentence.
Your can be interpreted as either the subject of the gerund, or the possessive pronoun, modifying the noun.
Here is another example, but object, not subject:
He objected to my speaking Eng
Here's a bit more explaination on Mr. M's valour
Your speaking German is cute.
Speaking is a gerund, and the subject (singular) in the sentence.
Your can be interpreted as either the subject of the gerund, or the possessive pronoun, modifying the noun.
Here is another example, but object, not subject:
He objected to my speaking Eng
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Thanks for your answers! I admit that neither "You speaking German ist cute" nor "You speaking German are cute" is an elegant sentence .. Best way to say might be "You are cute, when you speak German".
However, is "You speaking German are cute" grammatically incorrect?
Cheers, Alex
However, is "You speaking German are cute" grammatically incorrect?
Cheers, Alex
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Anonymous is "You speaking German are cute" grammatically incorrect?Not if you say it right.
You, speaking German, are cute.
You (speaking German) are cute.
You -- speaking German -- are cute.
It's pretty strange, but with the right intonation you might get across the idea that your main clause is You are cute. I can't imagin
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I can see possibilities in the "is" version:
1. You-speaking-German is cute.
Here, "is" would relate not to "You", but to the entire fused phrase that precedes it.
All the best,
MrP
1. You-speaking-German is cute.
Here, "is" would relate not to "You", but to the entire fused phrase that precedes it.
All the best,
MrP
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MrPedanticHere, "is" would relate not to "You", but to the entire fused phrase that precedes it.Gosh Mr.P, I thought that the fused participle argument was only to be found hiding deep in "The King's English" (Fowler)
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