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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Relative clause or Indirect question?
Hi,
I have a question, I have 5 sentences, I believe that in the first 2 the underlined section is an indirect question and in the following 3 it is a relative clause, my only basis for this assumption is that "what" can be substituted for "that which" in the last three, am I way off the mark here, perhaps to do with what "what" is reffering to?
1. The lecturer explained to the class what she was going to do.
2. Mike does not know what his wife keeps in her wallet.
3. Jane will destroy what Tim has left behind in the kitchen.
4. Grammers do best what speakers do most.
5. What I lost on the trip will cost my family a fortune.
Any help would be appreciated as I'm a little lost.
I have a question, I have 5 sentences, I believe that in the first 2 the underlined section is an indirect question and in the following 3 it is a relative clause, my only basis for this assumption is that "what" can be substituted for "that which" in the last three, am I way off the mark here, perhaps to do with what "what" is reffering to?
1. The lecturer explained to the class what she was going to do.
2. Mike does not know what his wife keeps in her wallet.
3. Jane will destroy what Tim has left behind in the kitchen.
4. Grammers do best what speakers do most.
5. What I lost on the trip will cost my family a fortune.
Any help would be appreciated as I'm a little lost.
Top answer
'That which' fits, only awkwardly, into all of them. None can be indirect questions because none contain questions; they are all noun clauses (relative clauses modify nouns).
- 'That which' fits, only awkwardly, into all of them.
- None can be indirect questions because none contain questions; they are all noun clauses (relative clauses modify nouns).
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1 Answers
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'That which' fits, only awkwardly, into all of them. None can be indirect questions because none contain questions; they are all noun clauses (relative clauses modify nouns).
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