Noun phrase
"Little remains of the Malta that Nazi bombs were so close to sending back to the stone age that its residents moved into caves to escape the onslaught."
(The Guardian.)
Is "the Malta that Nazi bombs were so close to sending back to the stone age that its residents moved into caves to escape the onslaught" a noun phrase in which the head of the phrase "the Malta" is modified by the relative clause followed by a content one?
Top answer
Yes, except that the that -clause is part of the relative clause, not a separate modifier of the head (if that's what you meant). The pattern is "so close ... ".
- Yes, except that the that -clause is part of the relative clause, not a separate modifier of the head (if that's what you meant).
- The pattern is "so close ...
- ".
- In my opinion this nested structure is not very successful and the sentence is rather awkward as a result.
- Opinions may vary.
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Yes, except that the that-clause is part of the relative clause, not a separate modifier of the head (if that's what you meant). The pattern is "so close ... that ...". In my opinion this nested structure is not very successful and the sentence is rather awkward as a result. Opinions may vary.
0Little remains of the Malta that **** bombs were [so close to sending back to the stone age that its residents moved into caves to escape the onslaught].
I agree with what GPY says.
I would just add that the underlined content clause is an 'indirect' complement. It's called this because although it's located after the head (i.e. "close") of the adjective phrase,
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