Some grammar questions

Question

I've recently encountered a few grammar constructs that have caused me some confusion. Some I know are correct but do not understand why, while others I am uncertain about. A few are likely due to my unfamiliarity with all grammar rules and so I would appreciate a technical explanation or a referral to the rule governing its proper construction.

1. In the country that I am the executive of

Would using 'where' be acceptable in place of 'that'? How would one avoid placing the preposition 'of' at the end of the phrase?

2. We will choose people who we think can leave / we will choose whoever we think can lead

I am quite confident that both of these are correct. Is it true that with 'people who', 'people' serves as the object of the choosing while who serves as the subject of the relative clause? And that with 'whoever', it serves as the subject of the noun clause which acts as the object of the choosing? What part of speech does the 'we think' in both instances function as?

3. I wish I knew where he was hiding

I know this is correct but why is it 'was' and not 'is'?

4. There are numerous instances of them falsifying information

Should it be 'them' or 'their'?

5. We have me, John, and Cynthia included in the group / playing the game

These seem wrong to me.

6. It was the tornadoes that caused the damage / there were tornadoes causing damage

So in the first instance 'it' is the subject and so 'was' would make sense. But what is 'there' being used as in the second?

7. I and everyone else is excited

Why is the verb in the third person singular? Why not first person plural?

8.Let it be

Is this subjunctive?

Please forgive the length of this compilation of questions. Any help would be much appreciated.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Anonymous1. In the country that I am the executive of
Would using 'where' be acceptable in place of 'that'? How would one avoid placing the preposition 'of' at the end of the phrase?

It's odd to think of someone being an executive of a country. Nevertheless, you can rephrase with where, thus:

In the country where I am the executive (no of)

Anonymous2. We will choose people who we think can lead / we will choose whoever we think can lead
I am quite confident that both of these are correct. Is it true that with 'people who', 'people' serves as the object of the choosing while who serves as the subject of the relative clause? And that with 'whoever', it serves as the subject of the noun clause which acts as the object of the choosing? What part of speech does the 'we think' in both instances function as?

Yes, yes, and it's two words, so it's two parts of speech: pronoun and verb. The clause 'we think' is parenthetical. people who can lead (we think). But it is the main clause of which 'who can lead' is the subordinate. We think [these people = who] can lead.

Anonymous3. I wish I knew where he was hiding
I know this is correct but why is it 'was' and not 'is'?

The was matches knew in tense. Or maybe he is not hiding there anymore.

Anonymous4. There are numerous instances of them falsifying information
Should it be 'them' or 'their'?

Both are used. The possessive their is the more formal choice.

Anonymous5. We have me, John, and Cynthia included in the group / playing the game
These seem wrong to me.

Then rephrase them. John, Cynthia and I are included in the group / playing the game.

Anonymous6. It was the tornadoes that caused the damage / there were tornadoes causing damage
So in the first instance 'it' is the subject and so 'was' would make sense. But what is 'there' being used as in the second?

In the existential construction there is sometimes called expletive there. It serves as subject for purposes of subject-verb inversion: Were there tornadoes ...?

Anonymous7. I and everyone else is excited
Why is the verb in the third person singular? Why not first person plural?

The writer matched the closest element everyone else with the verb. I and everyone else is, in effect, everyone anyway, so the whole sentence is rather strange to begin with.

Anonymous8.Let it be
Is this subjunctive?

be is the base form, which is usual after the verb let and an object. That doesn't make it subjunctive, so I'd say no. It is a typical English paraphrase of subjunctive expressions of similar meaning in certain foreign languages, but that doesn't mean it's subjunctive in English.

AnonymousPlease forgive the length of this compilation of questions.

For future reference, splitting posts of this length into several posts might give you better results. Most people find these long lists of questions difficult to cope with.

CJ

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