How they have carried out

Question

Starting with registration renewals due by 31 October 2018, every time a pharmacy professional renews their registration with the GPhC they will need to submit records to show how they have carried out and recorded revalidation activities. In 2018 registrants will need to submit 4 CPD records, at least 2 of them planned. Registrants will need to submit these records by their next renewal deadline on or after 31 October 2018.
Please explain the grammatical form and function of "how" in "how they have ..."

GPY · Accepted Answer

"show how they have carried out ..." = "show the way in which they have carried out ..." / "show in which way they have carried out ..."

I guess this use of "how" might be called a "fused relative" construction, analogous to, for example the use of "what" in "I heard what you said" = "I heard the thing(s) that you said", though I am willing to be corrected on that.

CalifJim · Answer

Jigneshbharatithey will need to submit records to show how they have carried out and recorded revalidation activities.

"show" can take an interrogative content clause (i.e., an indirect question) as a complement. Thus, the underlined portion is an indirect question and the complement of "show".

Here are more examples of indirect questions after "show":

We need to show

... how we have done this.
... where the pirates buried the treasure.
... why certain people were unaffected by the virus.
... which streets in the city are the most dangerous.
... whether the level of medication should be increased.

An alternate interpretation is simply that 'how' is another way of saying 'that', and introduces a declarative content clause. The more I read that sentence, the more I think this alternate interpretation works better.

CJ

How they have carried out

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