Grammar: Sentence Structure

Question

Please elucidate this sentence: My mom said a lot of things to me, which I did not like at all.

I am sort of discombobulated with this sentence structure! I mean I have learned that the relative pronoun modifies the noun it is placed after; however, in this case it is not modifying the noun .

Kindly spell out this sentence structure giving some other examples!

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

jayprakash SinghMy mom said a lot of things to me [no comma] which I did not like at all.

As shown. 'which' applies to 'things'. 'which' does not have to be directly after the noun is applies to. It's best that way, but there are times when the structure of the sentence does not allow it. In those cases we try to put 'which' as close as we can to the relevant noun.

CJ

BillJ · Answer

jayprakash SinghI am sort of discombobulated with this sentence structure! I mean I have learned that the relative pronoun modifies the noun it is placed after; however, in this case it is not modifying the noun

My mom said a lot of things to me, which I did not like at all.

The comma after "me" marks the underlined relative clause as being a non-defining one.

Non-defining relatives don't modify anything: they don't combine with the antecedent to form a larger noun phrase, meaning that the requirement for the clause to be adjacent to it's antecedent wherever possible doesn't apply.

Non-defining relatives are analysed not as modifiers but as 'supplements' that have a semantic 'anchor' which is the same as the antecedent. The anchor may be almost anything in the main clause, from a noun to the whole main clause itself.

In your example, the anchor is the whole main clause: we understand that it was your mom's saying a lot of things to you that you didn't like at all.

Grammar: Sentence Structure

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