Relative Pronoun omission

Question

Why can't we omit the relative pronoun in a but can in b?a. I sent an email to our agency whom I asked to send the relevant information to you.b. This is the woman whom I wish to marry.Thanks

Canadian45 · Accepted Answer

Does a. and/or b.sound correct to you without "whom"?

BillJ · Answer

English 1b3Why can't we omit the relative pronoun in a but can in b? a. I sent an email to our agency whom I asked to send the relevant information to you. b. This is the woman whom I wish to marry.

The omissibilty of a relative word depends primarily on whether the relative clause is intended to be supplementary (non-defining), or integrated (defining).

The salient interpretation of your example is that it's supplementary. The bare construction is not allowed at all as a supplementary relative, so "whom" is mandatory; that's why it sounds crummy if you discard it. A comma (or a brief pause in speech) should be used to separate the clause:

I sent an email to our agency, whom I asked to send the relevant information to you.

(Note that even with integrated relatives, the relative word cannot be omitted if it is subject of the clause.)

BillJ

Anonymous · Answer

This is how I understand it:

"I sent an email to our agency whom I asked to send the relevant information to you."

Now -- for the sake of analysis -- let's rearrange the words in "regular" order:

"I sent an email to our agency I asked whom to send the relevant information to you."

As you can see, "whom" is the subject of the infinitive "to send." According to my books, you cannot delete the relative pronoun

if it is a subject.

*****

"This is the woman whom I wish to marry."

"Regular" order (only for analysis): This is the woman I wish to marry whom.

As you can see, "whom" is the object of the infinitive "to marry." Since it is NOT a subject, it can be deleted.

BillJ · Answer

James M"I sent an email to our agency whom I asked to send the relevant information to you."Now -- for the sake of analysis -- let's rearrange the words in "regular" order:"I sent an email to our agency I asked whom to send the relevant information to you."As you can see, "whom" is the subject of the infinitive "to send." According to my books, you cannot delete the relative pronounif it is a subject.

You're analysing it the wrong way, which is not helpful:

"Whom" (i.e. "our agency"), is the object of "asked" and therefore the OBJECT of the relative clause: "I asked our agency to send the relevant information". (That's why objective "whom" is correct in the OP's example). The rule is that you cannot omit the relative word if it is the subject of the relative clause. "I", not "whom", is the subject of the relative clause; omitting it would be impossible, but omitting the object "whom" does not present a problem. The fact that "whom" (i.e."our agency") may be the covert subject of the embedded infinitival clause is irrelevant.

Perhaps most importantly, you've omitted the absolutely crucial point, which is that a relative word cannot be omitted at all if the clause is supplementary (non-defining), which this one clearly is. Ignoring that fact is to omit the most important reason for the lack of omissibilty of a relative word. Which is why I emphasised that point in my first post..

BillJ

English 1b3 · Answer

Thanks, BILLJ. I understand.

If you could confirm my understanding by checking my own examples and answers below, that'd be great. d is the only one I had to give a bit of thought too.

a. I love Lisa whom I wish to marry (non-defining relative clause) Correct
b. I love Lisa I wish to marry (non-defining relative clause) Incorrect

c. I love this woman whom I wish to marry. (non-defining) Correct
d. I love this woman I wish to marry. (defining) Correct

CalifJim · Answer

BillJ... cannot be omitted at all if the clause is supplementary (non-defining), which this one clearly is.

I guess it's not so clear to me. Can you spell out what clues I am missing?

CJ

Canadian45 · Answer

English 1b3Why can't we omit the relative pronoun in a but can in b?
a. I sent an email to our agency whom I asked to send the relevant information to you.
b. This is the woman whom I wish to marry.

Let me try a different explanation, maybe the 'nontechnical' equivalent of BillJ's explanation.

b. This is the woman (whom) I wish to marry.
The underlined part presents an unanswered question, 'which woman?' the woman I wish to marry
Therefore, "This is the woman I wish to marry." is fine without "whom".

.
a. I sent an email to our agency (whom) I asked..........'. The underlined part is a complete thought; there is nothing missing or unanswered. Therefore, "whom", or something else, is necessary to join the new piece of information to the underlined part..
You can't just say 'I sent an email to our agency I asked to send........'.
"whom" is not the only possible way to join the two parts, but "whom" is what we are dealing with here.

BillJ · Answer

English 1b3. I love Lisa whom I wish to marry (non-defining relative clause) Correctb. I love Lisa I wish to marry (non-defining relative clause) Incorrectc. I love this woman whom I wish to marry. (non-defining) Correctd. I love this woman I wish to marry. (defining) Correct

You use a defining relative clause when it's necessary to identify the noun - it restricts the meaning. You use a non-defining relative clause when you are just adding some optional non-essential information - the clause could be omitted without affecting the noun's identity. Non-defining relatives always need a relative pronoun and a comma. Defining relatives need no comma, and the relative pronoun is optional (except when it's the subject of the clause, in which case it's essential).

a. I love Lisa, whom I intend to marry. (non-defining) Yes, but because it's non-defining, you need the comma after Lisa.

b. I love Lisa, whom I wish to marry. (non-defining) Yes, but because it's non-defining, the relative pronoun "whom" must be present and you need the comma after Lisa.

c. I love this woman, whom I wish to marry. (non-defining) Yes, but don't forget the comma after woman.

d. I love this woman I wish to marry. (defining) Yes.

BillJ

BillJ · Answer

CalifJimBillJ... cannot be omitted at all if the clause is supplementary (non-defining), which this one clearly is.I guess it's not so clear to me. Can you spell out what clues I am missing?

There's nothing in the relative clause that restricts the denotation of 'our agency'. It's just a simple statement about what was sent and to whom:

'I sent an email to our agency'. 'I asked our agency to send the relevant information to you'.

BillJ

CalifJim · Answer

BillJnothing in the relative clause that restricts

OK. I took the absence of a comma to be the OP's attempt to make a restrictive clause somehow and an implicit request to fix it so it would be a restrictive clause.

I sent another email to the agency I had already asked to help earlier.

Considering the direction the thread has taken, I must have been mistaken.

CJ

Relative Pronoun omission

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