Relative Clause Omission Rule

Question

Example sentences:A lawyer is a person who works in the justice system and [who] represents people in court.A lawyer is a person who works in the justice system and [who] does not have the power to sentence offenders.A concubine is a woman who is a mistress and [who] does not have the same status as the official wife.*Note: Please ignore the content of the sentences (I hastily put them together.).Questions:Is the "who" in red necessary? I see that sometimes "who" is repeated and sometimes not.When would you say that I need to put it? I am assuming that it is a matter of clarity. Is it better to have it than not?Thanks in advance.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

*Note: Please ignore the content of the sentences (I hastily put them together.).-- What's the rush? You should take as much time and care in formulating your posts as we do in answering them. Sloppy questions do not deserve careful answers.

A lawyer is a person who works in the justice system and [who] represents people in court.

A lawyer is a person who works in the justice system but [who] does not have the power to sentence offenders.

A concubine is a woman who is a mistress and [who] does not have the same status as the official wife.

Is the "who" in red necessary?-- No.

I see that sometimes "who" is repeated and sometimes not.-- Yes, it is often optional.

When would you say that I need to put it? I am assuming that it is a matter of clarity. - Yes.

Is it better to have it than not?-- Not necessarily. Good style usually omits it if feasible.

Vcolts · Answer

The rush is that I often have these grammar questions pop up when I try to write a research paper. This is very problematic because I end up spending 40~1hr thinking about the issue. I try my best to avoid providing exactly the same sentences from my paper to avoid any suspicision of copying off the internet.

Thanks for answering my questions, Mr. Micawber! I really appreciate it.

Cool Breeze · Answer

vcoltsExample sentences:
A lawyer is a person who works in the justice system and [who] represents people in court.
A lawyer is a person who works in the justice system and [who] does not have the power to sentence offenders.
A concubine is a woman who is a mistress and [who] does not have the same status as the official wife.

The grammatical reason for the possible omission of who in your sentences is that the and before it is a co-ordinating conjunction. Therefore the clause before the conjunction and the clause following it are of equal "strength", so to speak, and the subject (who) need not be repeated.

Another very common co-ordinating conjunction is but: He looked at me but [he] didn't say a word.

CB

Relative Clause Omission Rule

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