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Shcho23 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Which ones are correct? And why?

1) What do you think is the most important thing in your life?
2) What do you think the most important thing in your ife is?

and
3) What do you think is the price of this?
4) What do you think the price of this is?

finaly
5) What do you think is it?
6) What do you think it is?

Thank you in advance.
  

Top answer

shcho23 1) What do you think is the most important thing in your life? 2) What do you think the most important thing in your ife is? 3) What do you think is the price of this?

— Canadian45

  • shcho23 1) What do you think is the most important thing in your life?
  • 2) What do you think the most important thing in your ife is?
  • 3) What do you think is the price of this?
  • 4) What do you think the price of this is?
  • 5) What do you think is it ?
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6 Answers
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shcho231) What do you think is the most important thing in your life?Emotion: no
2) What do you think the most impo
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shcho231) What do you think is the most important thing in your life?2) What do you think the most important thing in your ife is?and3) What do you think is the price of this?4) What do you think the price of this is?finaly5) What do you think is it?6) What do you think it is?
3) is quite awkward. So is 5). I don't see any objections to any of the others.
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CalifJim3) is quite awkward. So is 5). I don't see any objections to any of the others.
I am not surprised that you don't object to #1, and probably native speakers say #1 as well as #2. But for the same reason that you find #3 and #5 awkwared, #1 is at least not as grammatically correct as #2.
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When you have a super long noun phrase, as you do in #1, it's not uncommon to move the verb up in a way you would not with a very short noun phrase.
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I suppose I answered according to how I would answer the embedded question.

1) What is the most important thing in your life?
X is the most important thing in my life. / The most important thing in my life is X.

3) What is the price of this?
The price is X. (Less likely, X is the price.)

5) What is it?
It is X. (Probably not X is it.)

CJ
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Grammar GeekWhen you have a super long noun phrase, as you do in #1, it's not uncommon to move the verb up in a way you would not with a very short noun phrase.
Yes, because the effect of the grammatical error becomes diluted by the long noun phrase. That's why #3 and #5 sound increasingly more obviously wrong.
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