, such that

Question

The following is extracted from Oxford Modern English Grammar.

23. President Kibaki promised us to fight corruption. Here president Kibaki was the person who made a promise, such that he would fight corruption. |

Q. Such is a pronoun? (It's an appositive of a promise?)

PS That 'comma' before such is an indispensable element?

GPY · Accepted Answer

Are those sentences really from Oxford Modern English Grammar? They seem horrible. Please check that you have copied everything exactly correctly.

Anonymous · Answer

GPYAre those sentences really from Oxford Modern English Grammar? They seem horrible. Please check that you have copied everything exactly correctly.

It really is. (209p) Anyone who has "Oxford Modern English Grammar by Bas Aarts' confirms.

Fivejedjon · Answer

I have. I do.

Anonymous · Answer

fivejedjonI have. I do.

As you can see, <~made a promise , such that clause.>

I thoght 'such' is not 'a relative pronoun' because 'that clause' is a complete sentence.

Might I take that 'such' as an appositive of the 'promise?' (that clause is an appositive of 'such)

GPY · Answer

Well, I'm afraid I can't accept "promised us to fight corruption", and in the second sentence the comma seems wrong, or "such that" seems wrong, or anyway something seems wrong. "made a promise that he would fight corruption" or "made a promise to fight corruption" is all that is needed.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for your help.

GPYI'm afraid I can't accept "promised us to fight corruption"

Bas Aarts, the author of the book, is a British.

I suppose 'promise + obj + to do' is British-based.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/215017/UK-promised-US-to-muzzle-Iraq-inquiry

I tried to google it.

<President Kibaki promised us to fight corruption. This does not appear to be happening...>
? original source (BBC NEWS | Africa | Does power corrupt?)

https://www.google.com/#q=%22promised+us+to+fight%22

Anonymous · Answer

GPY in the second sentence the comma seems wrong, or "such that" seems wrong, or anyway something seems wrong.

I'm curious to know what you remarked. You mean that not only ‘the linking of sentences, such that they constitute a narrative,'’ but also‘the linking of sentences such that they constitute a narrative’ is incorrect?

GPY · Answer

AnonymousI suppose 'promise + obj + to do' is British-based.

I'm British too.

AnonymousI'm curious to know what you remarked. You mean that not only ‘the linking of sentences, such that they constitute a narrative,'’ but also‘the linking of sentences such that they constitute a narrative’ is incorrect?

Well, this is a completely new example. I would accept both those.

Anonymous · Answer

GPYWell, this is a completely new example. I would accept both those.

Thank you for your feedback.

such that: To the extent that.

'the linking of sentences such that they constitute a narrative’

It's extracted from 'Oxford Dictionary of English'

I didn't know if I can add 'a comma' before 'such' like in 'the linking of sentences, such that they constitute a narrative.' You commented you would accept both those. So, my parsing is the following:

‘the linking of sentences such that they constitute a narrative’ (O)
'the linking of sentences, such that they constitute a narrative.'(O)
Then also,
'~a promise such that he would fight corruption.' (O)
'~a promise,such that he would fight corruption.' (O)

'N(,) + such that clause', though 'promise + obj + to do' can't be accepted by you. Of course, 'promise + to do' is academically acceptable. (I tried to google it except my grammar book)

'Language Universals and Second Language Acquisition' says :

(17) Harry told me to leave now.

(18) Harry promised me to leave now.

In (18), despite the apparent superficial similarity to (17), the interpretation is that the omitted subject of the infinitive is Harry, i.e. reference is to Harry's going, not to my going (cf. the paraphrase: Harry promised me that he would leave now).

'The Syntactic Phenomena of English' says :

(2) a. Joan persuaded the boss[ to go to Bermuda].

b. The prisoners appealed to the sheriff [ to release them].

(3) a. John promised Alice [ to empty the garbage].

b. John vowed/swore to *** [ to stop taking cocaine].

c. John offered to Alice [ to paint her car].

The meaning of (3a) relates to John, not Alice, emptying the garbage, that of (3b) to John, not ***, giving up cocaine, and that of (3c) to John, not Alice, painting the car. Control by the object, as in (2), is decidely more common than control by the subject, as in (3)

'A semantic approach to English Grammar' says :

(4) I promised/threatened to transfer Mary

In many dialects of English promise (but never threaten) may take a Modal (for) to clause?with subject coreferential with main clause subject and thus omitted, together with for?even when the addressee is retained:

(5) I promised John to transfer Mary

However, speakers of other dialect (e.g. contemporary Australian English) do not accept (5) as grammatical, and must instead say (2), i.e. I promised John that I would transfer Mary. When confronted by (5) these speakers can only interpret it with the complement clause subject coreferential with main clause object (i.e. John arranged the transfer, the whole sentence then meaning perhaps that I let him transfer her); that is, they interpret (5) as having the syntax of a verb from the order subtype.

GPY · Answer

Anonymous‘the linking of sentences such that they constitute a narrative’ (O) 'the linking of sentences, such that they constitute a narrative.'(O)

"such that they constitute a narrative" is adverbial, modifying "linking".

In the original sentence, "such that he would fight corruption" could grammatically be adverbial modifying "made", but the result is not right (in my opinion). "such that" does not have the correct meaning to describe the relationship between the parts (in my opinion).

, such that

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

such that: To the extent that.

'the linking of sentences such that they constitute a narrative’

Related Questions