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Mike123 Posted 8 years ago
Grammar

Missing Relative Pronoun?

Here is the original sentence :

"In 1633, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV cracked down on a practice he believed was provoking social decay and disunity in his capital of Istanbul."

In my opinion, there is a missing part in this sentence. It should be either

"In 1633, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV cracked down on a practice he believed which was provoking social decay and disunity in his capital of Istanbul."

or

"In 1633, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV cracked down on a practice he believed provoking social decay and disunity in his capital of Istanbul." (reduced clause).

If there is a grammar rule I dont know or remember but you see, let me know.

  

Top answer

The orignal is correct. " In other words, he believed that the practice was provoking social decay and disunity. " This would mean that he believed the practice rather than believed it was provoking decay and disunity, but it doesn't read correctly.

— GPY

  • The orignal is correct.
  • " In other words, he believed that the practice was provoking social decay and disunity.
  • " This would mean that he believed the practice rather than believed it was provoking decay and disunity, but it doesn't read correctly.
  • You can believe in a practice, but hardly believe a practice.
  • " This is not grammatical.
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2 Answers
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The orignal is correct. It is a reduced form of:

"In 1633, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV cracked down on a practice that/which he believed was provoking social decay and disunity in his capital of Istanbul."

In other words, he believed that the practice was provoking social decay and disunity.

Mike123"In 1633, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV cracked dow
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Mike123"In 1633, the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV cracked down on a practice he believed was provoking social decay and disunity in his capital of Istanbul."

Note that "a practice" is the direct object of the verb "believed". When the relative pronoun "which/that" is omitted, it means that omitted pronoun refers to the direct object of the verb used in the relat

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