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Spacedunce-5 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Weird sentence
The bartender served the bourbon fell down the stairs.
This article (http://www.theamericanscholar.org/they-get-to-me/) says it's grammatical, but how is this so?
This article (http://www.theamericanscholar.org/they-get-to-me/) says it's grammatical, but how is this so?
Top answer
" Grammar books usually advise students not to omit a relative pronoun if it is the subject of a relative clause. This is a good rule even though many authors don't always observe it. I have seen sentences like this written by distinguished writers: There's somebody at the door [who] wants to see you.
- " Grammar books usually advise students not to omit a relative pronoun if it is the subject of a relative clause.
- This is a good rule even though many authors don't always observe it.
- I have seen sentences like this written by distinguished writers: There's somebody at the door [who] wants to see you.
- I wouldn't leave out the pronoun in your example, though.
- I cannot say why I wouldn't.
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3 Answers
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"The bartender who/that served the bourbon fell down the stairs."
Grammar books usually advise students not to omit a relative pronoun if it is the subject of a relative clause. This is a good rule even though many authors don't always observe it. I have seen sentences like this written by distinguished writers: There's somebody at the door [who] wants to see you.
Grammar books usually advise students not to omit a relative pronoun if it is the subject of a relative clause. This is a good rule even though many authors don't always observe it. I have seen sentences like this written by distinguished writers: There's somebody at the door [who] wants to see you.
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The writer of this is a psycholinguistics students, who loves to play with improbable constructions.
She also writes, "Iraqi Head Seeks Arms" - where 'head' and 'arms' do NOT refer to bodily parts!
So -
The bartender served, (COMMA) the bourbon fell down the stairs.
Here, as opposed to the straight whiskey bourbon, it could refer to (1) a member of the Bourbo
She also writes, "Iraqi Head Seeks Arms" - where 'head' and 'arms' do NOT refer to bodily parts!
So -
The bartender served, (COMMA) the bourbon fell down the stairs.
Here, as opposed to the straight whiskey bourbon, it could refer to (1) a member of the Bourbo
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spacedunce-5The bartender served the bourbon fell down the stairs.Yes, it's perfectly grammatical.
Somebody served the bartender bourbon. The bartender fell down the stairs.
The bartender (who was) served bourbon | fell down the stairs.
This sort of example is generally called a "garden path" sentence. It leads you down th
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