Fused relative

Question

Hi,Why they didn't accept the offer in the first place puzzles me.I'd like to know whether the "why" is a fused relative or an interrogative pronoun.  In my grammar book, "why" is not listed as a relative word that appears in fused relative constructions, but that doesn't mean it can't have a fused relative interpretation, does it?  A: The answer to the question "Why didn't they accept the offer in the first place?" puzzles me.(interrogative pronoun interpretation)B: The reason why they didn't accept the offer in the first place puzzles me.(fused relative interpretation)As for "A", let me try another method to see if the "why" in the original example is an interrogative pronoun or not.  If a wh-clause can be replaced by a "whether-clause", it is an interrogative pronoun.  For example,   Whether they didn't accept the offer in the first place because they were being too cautious puzzles me.  Does this sentence make sense?Also, could you take a look at the following sentence and tell me if the "why" construction after the linking verb is a fused relative?What puzzles me is why they didn't accept the offer in the first place.I'd appreciate your help.  Thanks.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

The word "why" is not an interrogative pronoun, like "what," for example. "Why" is either an adverb, noun, or conjunction.

In the sentence, "Why didn't they accept the offer in the first place?", "why" is an adverb (meaning "for what reason") modifying the adverb "not."

In the sentence, "The reason why they didn't accept the offer in the first place puzzles me.", "why" is conjunction (meaning "the reason"). But you have an idiom here, "the reason why," which, like all idioms, is not grammatical (you're saying, "The reason the reason").

In the sentence, "Why they didn't accept the offer in the first place puzzles me.", "why" is a conjunction (meaning "the reason").

The sentence, "Whether they didn't accept the offer in the first place because they were being too cautious puzzles me.", is ungrammatical. I should be something like: "I wonder if they didn't accept the offer in the first place because they were being too cautious."

In the sentence, "What puzzles me is why they didn't accept the offer in the first place.", "why" is a conjunction (meaning "the reason").

Jooney · Answer

Thank you for the reply, Anon.

Whether they didn't accept the offer in the first place because they were being too cautious puzzles me.

Could you explain why this sentence is ungrammatical?

And also, what does the following sentence exactly mean?

I wonder if they didn't accept the offer in the first place because they were being too cautious.

You know that they didn't accept the offer and are wondering if the reason for the rejection has to with their being too cautious. Is that what it means?

Anonymous · Answer

"Whether they..." is ungrammatical because you're using "whether" with an expressed  negative.  Thus, there is no way to imply the alternate of a negative, as, for example, in:  "Whether they refused the offer (or not) was not clear."  Also, you're using the phrase "puzzles me," which in itself implies a question of yes or no, which further confuses the issue.

Jooney · Answer

Thank you.  But I don't follow your reasoning.  Maybe I'm missing something here.  Could you explain your answer in more detail?

Anonymous · Answer

The word "whether" is used in an "either or" type of structure, either explicitly spelled out, or implied: "Whether they didn't accept the offer in the first place because they were being cautious or because the price wasn't enough was not clear (explicitly spelled out)." "Whether they accepted the offer (or not) was not clear (implied)."

Note that you cannot have the implied situation if the statement is negative, because then you can't have the implied negative: "Whether they didn't accept...." has to have everything spelled out explicitly because you're starting off with a negative statement to begin with, unlike in "Whether they accepted the offer (or not)..."

Therefore, the sentence, "Whether they didn't accept the offer in the first place because they were being too cautious puzzles me.", is not correct. Here you start off with a negative statement, so everything in the "either or" structure has to be spelled out explicitly. You have the "either" part, but no "or" part - and the "or" part cannot be implied because you start out with a negative statement.

The phrase "puzzles me" can't be used like you're trying to use it. If you want to use it, it would have to be in something like: "I was puzzled by their refusal of the offer. Was it because they were being cautious, or because the price wasn't enough, or was it something else?"

Anonymous · Answer

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Jooney · Answer

Thank you very much for your answers, Anon.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Fused relative

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