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Cho7712 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
relative pronoun
In the context below,
e.g. (from the article)
Nor did I hesitate to embrace mommy-and-me activities,
toddler technology and just about anything I thought
would make his life better in the long run.
The underlined part seems to be a relative construction headed by the antecedent noun 'anything'.
And turning the relative phrase into the original version, it looks like this;
i.e. I thought (that) anything would make his life better in the
long run.
As it turns out, 'anything' is the subject of the complement
clause of the main verb 'thought'.
Then,a noun 'anything' hurdles over an explicit sentence barrier 'that' to become a relative sentence.
And I doubt if it is possible to go through that operation, because 'that' seems to be an absolute barrier itself.
So I think that the visibility of 'that' might be the key factor, which plays a critical role in judging the acceptability of sentences below.
i.e. .....anything I thought would make his life better in the long
run.
My guess : Ostensibly, 'that' is non-visible.
So this sentence is fine.
.....anything I thought that would make his life better in the
long run.
My guess : 'that' appears explicitly in this sentence,
which makes this sentence incorrect.
What do you think about my thinking?
e.g. (from the article)
Nor did I hesitate to embrace mommy-and-me activities,
toddler technology and just about anything I thought
would make his life better in the long run.
The underlined part seems to be a relative construction headed by the antecedent noun 'anything'.
And turning the relative phrase into the original version, it looks like this;
i.e. I thought (that) anything would make his life better in the
long run.
As it turns out, 'anything' is the subject of the complement
clause of the main verb 'thought'.
Then,a noun 'anything' hurdles over an explicit sentence barrier 'that' to become a relative sentence.
And I doubt if it is possible to go through that operation, because 'that' seems to be an absolute barrier itself.
So I think that the visibility of 'that' might be the key factor, which plays a critical role in judging the acceptability of sentences below.
i.e. .....anything I thought would make his life better in the long
run.
My guess : Ostensibly, 'that' is non-visible.
So this sentence is fine.
.....anything I thought that would make his life better in the
long run.
My guess : 'that' appears explicitly in this sentence,
which makes this sentence incorrect.
What do you think about my thinking?
Top answer
I always get myself into trouble around here when I try to do grammar, so bear with me. "Anything" is a pronoun. It is one of the three objects of the infinitve "to embrace", the others being "activities" and "technology".
- I always get myself into trouble around here when I try to do grammar, so bear with me.
- "Anything" is a pronoun.
- It is one of the three objects of the infinitve "to embrace", the others being "activities" and "technology".
- "
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12 Answers
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I always get myself into trouble around here when I try to do grammar, so bear with me.
"Anything" is a pronoun. It is one of the three objects of the infinitve "to embrace", the others being "activities" and "technology". If there is a place to insert a tacit "that", it is after "anything": "and just about anything that I thought would ...."
"Anything" is a pronoun. It is one of the three objects of the infinitve "to embrace", the others being "activities" and "technology". If there is a place to insert a tacit "that", it is after "anything": "and just about anything that I thought would ...."
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Thank you for the answer.
And uh, I made a mistake that I was not clear in expressing my point.
What I intend to point out to you is the use of 'that' in the complement clause. And the visibility of 'that' in the complement clause is what I wanted to ask.
Yes, this is surely right and I know it.
i.e. ....just about anything that I thought would
What I want to know is
And uh, I made a mistake that I was not clear in expressing my point.
What I intend to point out to you is the use of 'that' in the complement clause. And the visibility of 'that' in the complement clause is what I wanted to ask.
Yes, this is surely right and I know it.
i.e. ....just about anything that I thought would
What I want to know is
00
Thank you for your patience.
I don't think that "anything" heads a relative clause. It is an object modified by a relative clause. If I were to rectify it, I would get "that I think it would make his life better ...", with a dummy "it".
I hope this is of value to you.
I don't think that "anything" heads a relative clause. It is an object modified by a relative clause. If I were to rectify it, I would get "that I think it would make his life better ...", with a dummy "it".
I hope this is of value to you.
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Nor did I hesitate to embrace mommy-and-me activities, toddler technology and just about anything [(that) I thought __ would make his life better in the long run].
The relativised element (R) is the subject of a content clause functioning as complement of
The relativised element (R) is the subject of a content clause functioning as complement of
00
Thanks for the answer.
It seems to be contradictory between two answers above.
And I think that BillJ's view is good to follow. But I do appreciate enoon's effort and time.
And while googling , luckily I just now found some article related to my topic. It says,
e.g. Who do you think that invites Mary? (this sentence is ungrammatical)
--> It is
It seems to be contradictory between two answers above.
And I think that BillJ's view is good to follow. But I do appreciate enoon's effort and time.
And while googling , luckily I just now found some article related to my topic. It says,
e.g. Who do you think that invites Mary? (this sentence is ungrammatical)
--> It is
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cho7712And I doubt if this rule should be applied to the relative construction as in my example below.e.g. ...anything I thought that would make his life better in the long run. My guess : 'that' appears explicitly in this sentence, which makes this sentence incorrect.Nor did I hesitate to embrace mommy-and-me activities, toddler technology and just about a
00
Thanks for the answer.
i.e.... anything (that) I thought [that ___
BillJBoth the relative clause subordinator "that" and the content clause subordinator "that" are optional here.Then, you mean 'that' in the complement clause,which is emboldened, can be realized visually without causing the ungrammaticality of the sentence below?
i.e.... anything (that) I thought [that ___
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cho7712then, you mean 'that' in the complement clause, which is emboldened, can be realized visually without causing the ungrammaticality of the sentence below? i.e.... anything (that) I thought [that ___ would make his life better in the long run].Yes. You can include it or omit it - it is optional. Personally, I'd omit it if the relative "that" was included
00
Thank you for the answer.
So it seems that the operation which is strictly applied to forming the wh-interrogative is not the case in the relative construction, though the two of them look very similar.
i.e. Who do you think [that (___) like Mary]? (X)
and
.... anything (that) I thought [that ___ would make his
So it seems that the operation which is strictly applied to forming the wh-interrogative is not the case in the relative construction, though the two of them look very similar.
i.e. Who do you think [that (___) like Mary]? (X)
and
.... anything (that) I thought [that ___ would make his
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cho7712.e. Who do you think [that (__) like Mary]? (X) and .... anything (that) I thought [that __ would make his life better in the long run] ( O ). I understand the use itself, It looks a bit confusing though. Would you suggest a rule related to the use in the relative sentence?Most declarative content clauses can be introduced by "that", whether in r
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