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Hoony Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Relative pronoun - non-restrictive

Whenever our urge is to fight a specific biological change, we should ask the following triplet of questions. Will our efforts have made much difference a few hundred years hence? If not, this means we are fighting a battle we will inevitably lose. Next, will our great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren be that bothered if the state of the world has been altered, given that they will not know exactly how it is today? If the answer to this second question is no, this means we are fighting battles we do not need to win. If change is inevitable, which it is, we should then ask a third question: how can we maximize the benefits that our descendants derive from the natural world? In other words, how can we promote changes that might be favourable to the future human condition, as well as avoid the losses of species that might be important in unknown ways in future?


Q. I think 'which' is a non-restrictive relative pronoun. But, I don't what is its antecedent.

So, I asked this question of some people. Some people said that 'which' refers to the adjective 'inevitable' and 'it' the noun 'change'

It seemed reasonable to me, but I had one more question.

Is it possible for a relative pronoun to have an adjective as its antecedent ?

I have never heard of it so far

  

Top answer

Hoony Q. I think 'which' is a non-restrictive relative pronoun. But, I don't what is its antecedent is .

— CalifJim

  • Hoony Q.
  • I think 'which' is a non-restrictive relative pronoun.
  • But, I don't what is its antecedent is .
  • A non-restrictive relative clause like that can refer back to the whole clause that precedes it.
  • It doesn't have to have a specific word as its antecedent.
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2 Answers
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HoonyQ. I think 'which' is a non-restrictive relative pronoun. But, I don't what is its antecedent is.

A non-restrictive relative clause like that can refer back to the whole clause that precedes it. It doesn't have to have a specific word as its antecedent. "inevitable" is a good candidate, however.

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If the answer to this second question is no, this means we are fighting battles we do not need to win. If change is inevitable, which it is, we should then ask a third question.

I'd say that the antecedent is the preceding adjective "inevitable". As CJ hints, supplementary (non-r

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