The position of relative clause

Question

Hello everyone.While reading an English book, I saw a sentence which is "I showed my ID to the machine at the door which said: "Please wait for a while""Here, The author didn't put "which" just after "the machine".But I asked a question two days ago.The question was "I bought the toy at the toy store which you have wanted."Some people said:" No, It is wrong. You should put "which" just after "the toy" "And now, who is right? Agatha Christie or some people giving me advice?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

JawelAgatha Christie

In which novel or story does Agatha Christie use these sentences? And was it the one about the machine at the door or the one about the toy store or both?

In any case I don't see how Agatha Christie has anything to do with your question. The person who writes a sentence is not a factor in determining whether the sentence is grammatical.

You seem to think that the structure of these sentences is the same.

I showed my ID to the machine at the door which said "Please wait for a while".
I bought the toy at the toy store which you have wanted.

Therefore you think you can move the at-phrase to the end of the sentence in both cases. At least I think that's what you're saying.

I showed my ID to the machine which said "Please wait for a while" at the door.
I bought the toy which you have wanted at the toy store.

Just looking at the pattern of words without thinking much about the meaning and the grouping, I can see how you might think that.

But at the door says where the machine is, and not where you showed your ID, so it's better to put it after machine, and at the toy store says where you bought the toy, not where the toy was located, so it's better to put it at the end. That's why you may believe you're getting contradictory opinions.

Whenever you have more than one way that modifiers can be placed, there is always a decision to be made based on which word order is more likely to be interpreted as you wish it to be.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

When placing modifiers, meaning is important. Commas help to demystify ambiguity. Here is the first sentence with different positioning and interpretations:

1. "I showed my ID to the machine at the door which said: "Please wait for a while."

Interpretation:

The ID machine was located at the door. The door had a sign painted on it reading: "Please wait for a while."

2. "I showed my ID to the machine at the door, which said: "Please wait for a while."

Interpretation:

The ID machine was located at the door. The ID machine was a talking machine that responded to the ID and said "Please wait for a while."

3. "I showed my ID to the machine which said: "Please wait for a while at the door."

If you put "at the door" at the end, it becomes part of the message.

The second sentence and interpretations.

1. "I bought the toy at the toy store which you have wanted."

The child wanted the toy store. It really happens. When I asked my niece what she wanted for Christmas, she said the toy store "Toys R Us." If I had bought her the toy at Toys R Us, then that is a meaningful sentence.

2. "I bought the toy which you have wanted at the toy store."

The child wanted a toy. I bought it at the toy store.

The position of relative clause

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