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English 1b3 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Grammatically reduced sentences (relative clauses)

It is a different construction, which is still the subjunctive, but which stresses the unlikely nature of the situation. Both 'should' and 'were to' are used for this.

1) Can this be reduced to this below? Why/why not?

2) Acceptable/or unacceptable in formal contexts? Why/why not?

(It is a different construction, which is still the subjunctive, and which is used frequently by both 'should' and 'were to,' but which stresses the unlikely nature of the situation)



It is a different construction, still the subjunctive, used frequently by both 'should' and 'were to,' but stresses the unlikely nature of the situation.

Thank you.
  

Top answer

You can't make an agent out of both 'should' and 'were'. It doesn't make sense. You can leave out some words from the original: It is a different construction, still in the subjunctive, but it stresses the unlikely nature of the situation.

— Cool Breeze

  • You can't make an agent out of both 'should' and 'were'.
  • It doesn't make sense.
  • You can leave out some words from the original: It is a different construction, still in the subjunctive, but it stresses the unlikely nature of the situation.
  • Both 'should' and 'were to' are used for this.
  • CB
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3 Answers
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You can't make an agent out of both 'should' and 'were'. It doesn't make sense. You can leave out some words from the original: It is a different construction, still in the subjunctive, but it stresses the unlikely nature of the situation. Both 'should' and 'were to' are used for this.

CB
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English 1b3It is a different construction, still the subjunctive, which is
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I agree with CB. Although you've managed to successfully integrate the two sentences, it would be better to use an agentless passive construction using the preposition 'with': '....used frequently with both should and were to'.

Regarding clause reduction, I see 'stresses the unlikely...' as a 'zero' relative clause (where the relative pronoun 'which' has bee
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