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Deepcosmos Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

hours that a person should sleep

Hello, everyone!!

1. Recently I have frequently seen following sentences on the reliable articles;

1) Even though there is a minimum requirement for the number of hours that you should sleep per night, the best news is the consensus panel did not place a limit on the maximum hours you should sleep.

2) There's no magic number of hours that a person should sleep.

2. Especially regarding above 2) I guess it is not correct
grammartically with following reasons;

1) There is no 'magic number of hours'
+
2) A person should sleep '(for) magic number of hours'
* Regarding the omitted 'for', I think this expression is 'adverbial accusative' and also above 'sleep' is an intransitive verb.

===

1) + 2) = only following 3 joined clauses are possible, I think.

a) There is no magic number of hours for which a person should sleep.
* In formal English I understand 'for which' after a specific antecedent cannot be replaced with the relative adverb-'when'
and also 'when' cannot be done with 'that'.

b) There is no magic number of hours which (or that) a person should sleep for.

c) There is no magic number of hours (omitted which or that) a person should sleep for.

3. Thus, would you explain how above 2 sentences without for is possible?

Always thanking your replies,

Best Rgds
  

Top answer

e. omitting "for". Therefore I would accept both those sentences.

— GPY

  • e.
  • omitting "for".
  • Therefore I would accept both those sentences.
  • ".
  • I find the omission of "that" awkward in this case.
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7 Answers
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I think it is acceptable to say that a person sleeps a certain number of hours, i.e. omitting "for". Therefore I would accept both those sentences.

In (2), I would write "the best news is that the consensus panel ...". I find the omission of "that" awkward in this case. However, this is not related to your question.
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GPYTherefore I would accept both those sentences.
Many thanks for your reply.

* There is no magic number of hours that a person should sleep.

1. Do you agree above that is not the replacement for the relative adverb-'when' but relative pronoun?
2. Also, do you mean all the followings are acceptable ?;

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deepcosmos* There is no magic number of hours that a person should sleep.1. Do you agree above that is not the replacement for the relative adverb-'when' but relative pronoun?
It can't be a replacement for "when" ("when" does not have the right sense of duration). If, say, "8 hours" in "a person should sleep 8 hours" is seen as the object of "sleep", the
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GPY"8 hours" in "a person should sleep 8 hours" is seen as the object of "sleep", then your "that" would be a relative pronoun
* There is no magic number of hours that a person should sleep.

I feel above that is a relative pronoun with for omitted at the end, which makes an 'adverbial accusative'.
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deepcosmosIf above that is a relative adverb, which relative adverb does that replace for among when, where, how, why?
None of those.
deepcosmosOtherwise, does above that by itself act as a third relative adverb?
I'm not sure. It seems to me that "8 hours" in a "a person should sleep 8 hours" is adverbial and not an object o
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GPY"that" seems like a relative pronoun in "There is no magic number of hours that a person should sleep".
Thanks very much, GPY!!

Meantime, I would invite others' opinions.
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deepcosmosMeantime, I would invite others' opinions.
Indeed.
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