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4444mv Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Relative clause

Are all these examples correct?

(1)There's some ham in the kitchen which needs to be eaten,
(2)There's some cheese next to the ham   which needs to be eaten.

Can the relative clause in sentence (1) refer to 'ham' and be placed after kitchen?
Which one needs to be eaten in sentence (2)
Thanks
  

Top answer

4444mv Can the relative clause in sentence (1) refer to 'ham' and be placed after kitchen? Yes. 4444mv Which one needs to be eaten in sentence (2) In theory it is ambiguous, but in practice it would be understood that the cheese needs to be eaten.

— GPY

  • 4444mv Can the relative clause in sentence (1) refer to 'ham' and be placed after kitchen?
  • Yes.
  • 4444mv Which one needs to be eaten in sentence (2) In theory it is ambiguous, but in practice it would be understood that the cheese needs to be eaten.
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4 Answers
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4444mvCan the relative clause in sentence (1) refer to 'ham' and be placed after kitchen?
Yes.
4444mvWhich one needs to be eaten in sentence (2)
In theory it is ambiguous, but in practice it would be understood that the cheese needs to be eaten.
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GPY 4444mvCan the relative clause in sentence (1) refer to 'ham' and be placed after kitchen?Yes.
Then, there are sentential relative clauses that are restrictive. Am I right? Because in my examples I didn't write commas. Thanks, GPY,
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GPY4444mvWhich one needs to be eaten in sentence (2)In theory it is ambiguous, but in practice it would be understood that the cheese needs to be eaten.
I would say that it would depend on the intonation -- is it "cheese (next to the ham) that needs to be eaten", or "cheese (next to the ham that needs to be eaten)"?
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4444mv GPY 4444mvCan the relative clause in sentence (1) refer to 'ham' and be placed after kitchen?Yes.Then, there are sentential relative clauses that are restrictive. Am I right? Because in my examples I didn't write commas. Thanks, GPY,
I wouldn't call them sentential relative clauses. It is the ham (or cheese) that needs to be eaten, not the fact that "th
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