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Seagull Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Relative pronoun "whose"
There are some words in the passage. I don't know their meanings.
A In the passage, there are some words whose meanings I don't know.
B There are some words in the passage whose meanings I don't know.
C There are some words whose meanings I don't know in the passage.
Q1 If the first two sentences are combined with a relative pronoun, which of the three sentences above is the most natural? Also, are there any sentences which sound unnatural?
Q2 In a situation like this, should we use 'which' instead of 'whose' in modern English? I mean, should we say like, "In the passage, there are some words which meanings I don't know."?
A In the passage, there are some words whose meanings I don't know.
B There are some words in the passage whose meanings I don't know.
C There are some words whose meanings I don't know in the passage.
Q1 If the first two sentences are combined with a relative pronoun, which of the three sentences above is the most natural? Also, are there any sentences which sound unnatural?
Q2 In a situation like this, should we use 'which' instead of 'whose' in modern English? I mean, should we say like, "In the passage, there are some words which meanings I don't know."?
Top answer
"Whose" is possessive; "which" is not. " If you want to use the impersonal "whose," you're in fairly good company. On the other hand, you can simplify your syntax to avoid the problem altogether: I don't know the meanings of some of the words in the passage.
- "Whose" is possessive; "which" is not.
- " If you want to use the impersonal "whose," you're in fairly good company.
- On the other hand, you can simplify your syntax to avoid the problem altogether: I don't know the meanings of some of the words in the passage.
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4 Answers
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"Whose" is possessive; "which" is not. If you don't want to use the impersonal "whose," but you want to keep the structure you have to say, "In the passage, there are some words the meanings of which I don't know." If you want to use the impersonal "whose," you're in fairly good company.
On the other hand, you can simplify your syntax to avoid the problem altogether:
On the other hand, you can simplify your syntax to avoid the problem altogether:
I do
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Thank you very much indeed, Deadrat. I've learned a lot.
How about my sentences A to C? Are they all fine? Are there any sentences that are difficult to understand?
How about my sentences A to C? Are they all fine? Are there any sentences that are difficult to understand?
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Your sentences A-C are all fine. They have subtly different meanings though.
A and B say that there are words you don't know, and those words show up in the passage.
C says that there are words that have a meaning within the passage and that's what you don't know. You might know the meanings the words have in other contexts.
The difference in meaning is very slight.
A and B say that there are words you don't know, and those words show up in the passage.
C says that there are words that have a meaning within the passage and that's what you don't know. You might know the meanings the words have in other contexts.
The difference in meaning is very slight.
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