Relative clauses, cleft clause and punctuation

Question

Hi,Can anyone help me with the task below? One has to make a grammatically correct sentence out a few sentences provided. The problem is that even one punctuation mistake makes the whole sentence invalid, and punctuation is not my forte, I'm afraid. Besides, it is important that the sentences are combined strictly according to the instruction. So: "This is the house and Jack himself built it" will not suffice.Thank you in advanceRomiTASK:Combine the following sentences by means of appropriate relative expressions (defining, non-defining, connective or cleft clauses)1. This is the house. Jack himself built it.2. Professor Jones was a famous grammarian. He lived in the 19th century.3. This is a friend of mine. J have known him for years.4. My new girlfriend is 18. I'm sure you know her5. Those flowers look so beautiful. I got them only yesterday.6. Bring me my handbag. I left it in the other room.7. This large map belonged to Ptolemy XI. In the middle of it you can seepart of the Arctic Circle.8. It is strange that the peacock butterfly has a similar name in mostlanguages. The peacock butterfly is found in most parts of Europe.9. Professor Black came home drunk the other night. It was entirelyuncharacteristic of him. His family were shocked.10. His parents were very proud of him. He passed his final examinationswith honours.11. The excitement was leaving him. He had been roused into it.12. He asked with a smile. I seemed to detect something insolent in it.13. I went upstairs into the quiet room. Agnes had so often sat beside me atmy books there.14. Peter was appointed manager of the factory. All the family weresurprised. No member of the family expected this.15. William the Conqueror became king in 1066. Before 1066 England was ruledby the Saxon kings.

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"Romi" (Email Removed) schrieb im Newsbeitrag
[nq:1]Can anyone help me with the task below? One has to make a grammatically correct sentence out a few sentences provided.[/nq]
You want us to do your homework for you?

Usenet · Answer

"rewboss" (Email Removed) wrote in a message
[nq:2]Can anyone help me with the task below? One has to make a grammatically correct sentence out a few sentences provided.[/nq]
[nq:1]You want us to do your homework for you?[/nq]
OK, sorry for that. Here is my second attempt, could you please check it for me, so that I understand where I make mistakes?
1. This is the house. Jack himself built it.

This is the house that Jack built himself.
2. Professor Jones was a famous grammarian. He lived in the 19th century.
Professor Jones, a famous grammarian, lived in the 19th century.

but if I wrote a) "Professor Jones was a famous grammarian who lived in the 19th century", would it be wrong? I know that expression "famous grammarian" defines him in a way, so I wonder whether, perhaps, it should be b) "Professor Jones was a famous grammarian, who lived in the 19th century", where "who lived in the 19th century" serves as additional information. The problem is that I've got the gut feeling that the b) version is wrong.
3. This is a friend of mine. J have known him for years.

This is a friend of mine that I have known for years.
4. My new girlfriend is 18. I'm sure you know her.

I am sure you know my girlfriend, who is 18.
5. Those flowers look so beautiful. I got them only yesterday.

I got those flowers, which look so beautiful, only yesterday. or I got those beautiful flowers only yesterday.
6. Bring me my handbag. I left it in the other room.

Bring me my handbag, which I left in the other room.

Reasoning behind: "my" defines the handbag, thus comma is necessary.

Other option: Bring me the handbag which (or: that) I left in the other room.
7. This large map belonged to Ptolemy XI. In the middle of it you can seepart of the Arctic Circle.
This large map, in the middle of which you can see part of the Arctic Circle, belonged to Ptolemy XI.
8. It is strange that the peacock butterfly has a similar name in mostlanguages. The peacock butterfly is found in most parts of Europe.

It is strange that the peackock butterfly, (which is) found in most parts of Europe, has a similar name in most languages.
9. Professor Black came home drunk the other night. It was entirelyuncharacteristic of him. His family were shocked.
Professor Black came home drunk the other night, which was entirely uncharacteristic of him, and which shocked his family.
10. His parents were very proud of him. He passed his final examinationswith honours.
He passed his final examinations with honours, which made his parents were very proud of him.
11. The excitement was leaving him. He had been roused into it.

The excitement he had been roused into was leaving him.
12. He asked with a smile. I seemed to detect something insolent in it.

He asked with a smile in which I seemed to detect something insolent.
13. I went upstairs into the quiet room. Agnes had so often sat beside me atmy books there.
I went upstairs into the quiet room in which Agnes had so often sat beside me at my books.
BTW, is the expression: "at my books" correct? It looks like an invention of a non-native speaker.
14. Peter was appointed manager of the factory. All the family weresurprised. No member of the family expected this.
This one beats me

15. William the Conqueror became king in 1066. Before 1066 England was ruledby the Saxon kings.
Before 1066, which was the date when William the Conqueror became king, England was ruled by the Saxon kings.
I would appreciate any comments.
Romi

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]OK, sorry for that. Here is my second attempt, could you please check it for me, so that I understand ... of the factory. All the family were surprised. No member of the family expected this. This one beats me

[/nq]
All the family, of which no members expected this, was surprised that Peter was appointed manager of the factory.
Another version (I don't like the members):
All the family, of which noone expected this, was surprised that Peter was appointed manager of the factory.
(My guess as a non-native)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"Romi" schrieb:[/nq]
[nq:2]14. Peter was appointed manager of the factory. All the family were surprised. No member of the family expected this. This one beats me

[/nq]
[nq:1]All the family, of which no members expected this, was surprised that Peter was appointed manager of the factory. Another version (I don't like the members): All the family, of which noone expected this, was surprised that Peter was appointed manager of the factory.[/nq]
"No one" (AmE) or "no-one" (BrE), but not "noone".
[nq:1](My guess as a non-native)[/nq]
Another version (with minimal changes from the original):

Peter was appointed manager of the factory, and all the family were surprised, as no member of the family expected this.

Skitt (AUE's token Latvian)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]"Romi" schrieb:[/nq]
Or, since I think he wasn't supposed to use "and":

Peter was appointed manager of the factory, which surprised all his family, as none of them expected this.

Best - Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]2. Professor Jones was a famous grammarian. He lived in the 19th century. Professor Jones, a famous grammarian, lived in the 19th century. but if I wrote a) "Professor Jones was a famous grammarian who lived in the 19th century", would it be wrong?[/nq]
Au contraire, I think it would be more in the spirit of the intention of the exercise, as far as I can determine what it is. Your first sentence is more elegant, however.
[nq:1]5. Those flowers look so beautiful. I got them only yesterday. I got those flowers, which look so beautiful, only yesterday. or I got those beautiful flowers only yesterday.[/nq]
Again, the first version is probably what's expected, given it includes the 'look so...', but your alternative is a nicer sentence. There's also:
These flowers, which I got only yesterday, look so beautiful.
[nq:1]Bring me my handbag, which I left in the other room. Reasoning behind: "my" defines the handbag, thus comma is necessary.[/nq]
Sounds reasonable enough.
[nq:1]7. This large map belonged to Ptolemy XI. In the middle of it you can see part of the Arctic Circle. This large map, in the middle of which you can see part of the Arctic Circle, belonged to Ptolemy XI.[/nq]
I think I prefer
In the middle of this large map, which belonged to Ptolemy XI, you can see part of the Arctic Circle.
Or even
You can see part of the Arctic Circle in the middle of this map, which belonged to Ptolemy XI.
Although there is some possibly one might interpret that as implying that the Arctic Circle belonged to Ptolemy XI.
[nq:1]9. Professor Black came home drunk the other night. It was entirely uncharacteristic of him. His family were shocked. Professor Black came home drunk the other night, which was entirely uncharacteristic of him, and which shocked his family.[/nq]
You can omit the second 'which'. To avoid the 'and', I tried to reword this something like the following:
"Professor Black's family were shocked when, entirely uncharacteristic of him, he came home drunk the other night."
But I think yours is better (my sentence has a 'pronoun with possesive antecedent' - two actually - which is frowned upon in some circles).
[nq:1]10. His parents were very proud of him. He passed his final examinations with honours. He passed his final examinations with honours, which made his parents were very proud of him.[/nq]
The 'were' after parents is wrong. But unless the rules of the exercise state otherwise, I would just replace the full-stop with 'when'.
[nq:1]11. The excitement was leaving him. He had been roused into it. The excitement he had been roused into was leaving him.[/nq]
Slightly awkward, but 'roused into excitement' is an unusual phrase anyway (0 google hits FWIW).
You could say "He had been roused into excitement, but now it was leaving him".
[nq:1]BTW, is the expression: "at my books" correct? It looks like an invention of a non-native speaker.[/nq]
It usually means 'studying'. It's perhaps not as common as it once was, but not unheard of.
[nq:1]14. Peter was appointed manager of the factory. All the family were surprised. No member of the family expected this. This one beats me

[/nq]
I can't see an obvious answer...maybe...
All the family were surprised when Peter was appointed manager of the factory - no member had expected this.
But then 'member' might logically refer to 'factory'. As it is, it's a little redundant to say they didn't expect it if you've already said they were surprised (you do hear people say 'surprising, but expected' sometimes - usually when referring to something that seemed inevitable, but perhaps happened sooner or to a greater degree than you anticipated).
[nq:1]15. William the Conqueror became king in 1066. Before 1066 England was ruled by the Saxon kings. Before 1066, which was the date when William the Conqueror became king, England was ruled by the Saxon kings.[/nq]
You don't need "which was the date".
Otherwise, fantastic job. Just watch out that many native speakers have the opposite problem - they try to cram too many thoughts into one sentence when two or three would serve them better.

Dylan

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Thank you very much for your kind remarks.
R

Relative clauses, cleft clause and punctuation

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