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Lynn3 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Reduceing clauses to phrases

Hello! Please help me figure out the meaning of the sentences. Thanks a lot!

1. The chair that is made out of wood is new = The chair made out of wood is new.

(( There's at a least one other chair, which is not made out of wood. It is probably not new.))

2. My chair, which is made out of wood, is new = My chair, made out of wood, is new.

(( I only have one chair, It's made out of wood, and new))

Q1, how do I tell there is at least one other chair or I only have one chair between the 2 sentences?
  

Top answer

Hello, Lynn, welcome to the Forums! The way you understand the sentences is quite correct. I'm afraid I don't get your question?

  • Hello, Lynn, welcome to the Forums!
  • The way you understand the sentences is quite correct.
  • I'm afraid I don't get your question?
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7 Answers
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Hello, Lynn, welcome to the Forums!

The way you understand the sentences is quite correct. I'm afraid I don't get your question?
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Hi Lynne,

I believe this is a question related to the use of 'that' versus the use of 'which'.

Check this out, and see if it answers your question: http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/gupsa/eir/content_whi
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Hello Lynn

I would shorten your original sentences this way:
[1] Among my chairs, the wooden one is new.
[2] My chair is made of wood and new.
paco
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The two clauses here are:

1) that is made out of wood

2) which is made out of wood

1) The only chair that is new is the one made out of wood. (There could be other chairs around, but they are neither new nor made of wood.)

2) My chair is new, and it happens to be made of wood. (There could be other
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I have to correct errors in my previous post.

1) The chair that is made of wood is new: implies that there are other chairs around, but they are not made of wood. Some of those other chairs could be new. The red plastic one, for instance.

2) My chair is new, and it happens to be made of wood: means there could be other chairs around, but they do not belong to
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One more thought:

If the sentences were written this way--

1) The chair that is made of wood is new. = (same meaning as above)

2) The chair, which is made of wood, is new. = (There are probably not other chairs around.)
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Hello, Lynn.

Your email surprised me greatly because I had almost forgotten about these Forums. I had my password emailed to me only a while ago because I could not remember it!

Thank you very much for your kind words; I am glad to hear you have found my posts helpful.

I wanted to send you an email through the forums but, for some reason, the email option would not work

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