The Olympics is probably the most exciting event in sports calendar. It is one of the few opportunities we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.

Question

Hi,The Olympics is probably the most exciting event in sports calendar. It is one of the few opportunities we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.Is ' we get to see some of the best athletes in the world' an adjective clause?If yes, we have to include 'opportunities' in the clause as :It is one of the few opportunities we get (them )to see some of the best athletes in the world.But as you know we have the following :get to do something8[INTRANSITIVE/TRANSITIVE] [NEVER PASSIVE] to have the opportunity or be able to do somethingget to do something: Did you get to visit the Louvre when you were in Paris?Her brothers went out a lot, but Lisa never got to go.source: get definition and synonyms | Macmillan DictionaryAs you see, we shouldn't add any pronouns or nouns between 'get' and 'to do'.So please help me with such a confusing expression.There is only one guess that 'we get to see some of the best athletes in the world' is not adjective clause. it is noun clause.we have to use as following :used as the same clause as : (I am sure that you are not guilty of crime).It is one of the few opportunities (that) we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.In this case it has a redundant meaning as ' get to do' means opportunities as well.Thanks.Source: Cambridge GrammarI posted my question in the following , but none of replies solves my problem and I am still confused.http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/it-is-one-of-the-few-opportunities-we-get-to-see-some-of-the-best-athletes-in-the-world.3244119/#post-16419746

GPY · Accepted Answer

"we get to see some of the best athletes in the world" is not a logical grouping in this sentence. The phrasing is like this:

It is one of the few opportunities (that) we get / to see some of the best athletes in the world.

"to see some of the best athletes in the world" modifies "opportunities", describing what kind of opportunities we are referring to.

Mickey Mouse 8241 · Answer

GPY"we get to see some of the best athletes in the world" is not a logical grouping in this sentence. The phrasing is like this:It is one of the few opportunities (that) we get / to see some of the best athletes in the world."to see some of the best athletes in the world" modifies "opportunities", describing what kind of opportunities we are referring to.

Thanks for your reply.
In adjective clauses if the relative pronoun acts as a object of the sentence we should include it in the sentence as following :
the house that Jack built (it) is really nice.
The house is nice.Jack built it.

"Have you seen those people whom we met (them,those people) on holiday?"
I know we cannot use (house or those people) in the clause.

It is one of the few opportunities we get to see (opportunities,them) some of the best athletes in the world.
or

It is one of the few opportunities we get (opportunities,them) to see some of the best athletes in the world.

Where we can put opportunities like two above examples? (I know We don't normally place (house) or (opportunities) in our clause but I want to know where the object of my sentence placed ?I want to know the position of the 'opportunities' in relative clause.

It is one of the opportunities that/where ...
is that/where is used as relative pronoun or adverb pronoun?

GPY · Answer

We get opportunities. We do not see opportunities; we see the athletes.

What kind of opportunities? Opportunities to see some of the best athletes in the world.

Mickey Mouse 8241It is one of the opportunities that/where ...is that/where is used as relative pronoun or adverb pronoun?

Possibly you mean "relative adverb"?

It is one of the few opportunities that we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.
"that" is a relative pronoun.

It is one of the few opportunities where we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.
This has a different structure altogether. "we get to see some of the best athletes in the world" now is a logical grouping.

Mickey Mouse 8241 · Answer

GPYPossibly you mean "relative adverb"?

Sorry. Yes I meant relative pronoun.

GPYIt is one of the few opportunities that we get to see some of the best athletes in the world."that" is a relative pronoun.

So, in the above example when we should put 'opportunities'?

It is one of the few opportunities that we get (them) to see some of the best athletes in the world.
Is it correct?
It is the pen that I gave (it) to my sister.

GPYIt is one of the few opportunities where we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.

In this structure we don't need to do as above in pronoun clause .
It is a city where I was born.
Am I right?

Now in my sentence I should use that or where?

Mickey Mouse 8241 · Answer

GPY"we get to see some of the best athletes in the world" is not a logical grouping in this sentence. The phrasing is like this:

What does 'logical grouping' mean by the way?

GPY · Answer

Mickey Mouse 8241So, in the above example when we should put 'opportunities'? It is one of the few opportunities that we get (them) to see some of the best athletes in the world. Is it correct?

I do not personally find this approach of inserting the word in brackets into the sentence very appealing. Look at my previous reply. We get opportunities. That is all you need to know to answer the question.

Mickey Mouse 8241In this structure we don't need to do as above in pronoun clause .

I am not certain what you mean by "do as above". In the sentence "It is one of the few opportunities where we get to see some of the best athletes in the world", "get to see ..." is a catenative structure.

Mickey Mouse 8241It is a city where I was born.

This sounds as if you were born in more than one city. Say "It is the city where I was born" or "It is the city in which I was born".

Mickey Mouse 8241Now in my sentence I should use that or where?

Which sentence?

Mickey Mouse 8241What does 'logical grouping' mean by the way?

By this I meant any group of words that, within itself, has an identifiable function or meaning, i.e. not split across phrase boundaries.

Mickey Mouse 8241 · Answer

GPY Look at my previous reply. We get opportunities. That is all you need to know to answer the question.

Didi you mean ?
"we get opportunities to see (using our eyes) some of the best athletes in the world."
And ' get opportunities to do something' it is not related to the phrasal verb 'get to do something' ?

If we want to break the whole sentence in a two separate senetnces :
It is one of the few opportunities.
we get opportunities to see some of the best athletes in the world.
[we get opportunities to ( in order to) see (through our eyes) some of the best athletes in the world.]

Is my concution OK?

Mickey Mouse 8241 · Answer

GPY Look at my previous reply. We get opportunities. That is all you need to know to answer the question.

Didi you mean ?
"we get opportunities to see (using our eyes) some of the best athletes in the world."
And ' get opportunities to do something' it is not related to the phrasal verb 'get to do something' ?

If we want to break the whole sentence in a two separate senetnces :
It is one of the few opportunities. we get opportunities to see some of the best athletes in the world.
[we get opportunities to ( in order to) see (through our eyes) some of the best athletes in the world.]
It is one of the few opportunities that we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.
So 'that we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.' is relative pronoun not relative adverb

Is my conclution OK?

GPY · Answer

Mickey Mouse 8241"we get opportunities to see (using our eyes) some of the best athletes in the world."

Yes.

(Obviously this does not in itself mean the same as the original sentence, but I'm sure you realise that.)

Mickey Mouse 8241And ' get opportunities to do something' it is not related to the phrasal verb 'get to do something' ?

They are grammatically distinct. Obviously the meanings are similar.

Mickey Mouse 8241It is one of the few opportunities. We get opportunities to see some of the best athletes in the world.

This does not flow well as normal English, and the original meaning is not completely captured. However, in terms of what you are trying to understand, it is along the right lines.

Mickey Mouse 8241[we get opportunities to ( in order to) see (through our eyes) some of the best athletes in the world.]

"in order to" is not right here.

Mickey Mouse 8241It is one of the few opportunities that we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.So 'that we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.' is relative pronoun not relative adverb

As I have said, "that we get to see some of the best athletes in the world" is not a logical grouping of words in that sentence. You are still incorrectly breaking it over phrase boundaries.

The Olympics is probably the most exciting event in sports calendar. It is one of the few opportunities we get to see some of the best athletes in the world.

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