Which

Question

You need to spend sometime doing nothing. By doing so, sometimes you can realize who you really are, which you have almost forgotten.Does the underline part work fine as a clause which refers to "who you really are"?

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

TakaDoes the underline part work fine as a clause which refers to "who you really are"?

Well, something seems wrong with it. I suggest:

You need to spend some time doing nothing. By doing so, sometimes you can remember who you really are, which you had almost forgotten.

Taka · Answer

Yes, "some time." They had to be separated. It's a typo. Sorry.

Two questions:

1; Why does it have to be the past perfect? Is it really grammatically possible when there is no simple past in the sentence? If it is, why?

2: So is it possible for "which" to refer to "who...", which is about a person, not about a thing? Does this below sound OK as well?

Don't forget who you are. You need to remember it.

("It" here is meant to refer to "who...", not to the entire act of not forgetting who you are)

Mister Micawber · Answer

1; Why does it have to be the past perfect? Is it really grammatically possible when there is no simple past in the sentence? If it is, why?-- It didn't seem to make sense with the present perfect, that is all. Past perfect is also used to emphasize a past state/action, and that needs to be done here because the forgetting happens before the remembering, but that is otherwise unclear, since it is written in non-past.

2: So is it possible for "which" to refer to "who...", which is about a person, not about a thing? Does this below sound OK as well? Don't forget who you are. You need to remember it. ("It" here is meant to refer to "who...", not to the entire act of not forgetting who you are) -- It's possible; it sounds natural, but it seems to me that it is inevitably ambiguous.

Taka · Answer

All understood but this part.

Mister MicawberIt didn't seem to make sense with the present perfect, that is all.

Because "S have forgotten X" means S still don't have the memory of X, which would contradict the remembering part?

If so, what about the simple past as this below? Would it work fine?

You need to spend some time doing nothing. By doing so, sometimes you can remember who you really are, which you almost forgot.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Takaecause "S have forgotten X" means S still don't have the memory of X, which would contradict the remembering part?

That's how it reads to me, yes. Present perfect inevitably points to the present.

TakaIf so, what about the simple past as this below? Would it work fine?You need to spend some time doing nothing. By doing so, sometimes you can remember who you really are, which you almost forgot.

That's much better and probably grammatically fine, but it still doesn't do what I (as a listener) expect it to do: point earlier.

Taka · Answer

So purely from a grammatical point of view, the simple past also works. Good.

Thanks, MM!

(Much better but still doesn't do what you expect it to do. Interesting)

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