Why doesn't this sentence work as a non-defining relative clause?

Question

Hi Everyone,We were looking at participle clauses with my CAE class and this one came up:"A group of archeologists exploring the island have discovered X" (doesn't matter what) So I know that this has been shortened from "A group of archeologist who are exploring the island have discovered X" which is a defining relative clause but when one of my students asked me why we couldn't expand it to "A group of archeologist, who are exploring the island, have discovered X" i.e. a non-defining relative clause, I couldn't answer her. Does anyone know why that doesn't work?Cheers.Robert

Senroeash · Accepted Answer

Also, how do we know for sure which tense this sentence is in, wouldn't it work fine in past continuous as well? I.e. "A group of archeologist who were exploring the island have discovered X"?

Dokterjokkebrok · Answer

senroeashHi Everyone,

but when one of my students asked me why we couldn't expand it to "A group of archeologist, who are exploring the island, have discovered X" i.e. a non-defining relative clause, I couldn't answer her. Does anyone know why that doesn't work?

Robert

Maybe I'm missing something but why again can't you use a non-defining relative clause?

- DJB -

Clive · Answer

Hi,

We were looking at participle clauses with my CAE class and this one came up:

"A group of archeologists exploring the island have discovered X" (doesn't matter what)

So I know that this has been shortened from "A group of archeologist who are exploring the island have discovered X" which is a defining relative clause but when one of my students asked me why we couldn't expand it to "A group of archeologist, who are exploring the island, have discovered X" i.e. a non-defining relative clause, I couldn't answer her. Does anyone know why that doesn't work?

I agree with the comment that it can work as non-defining as well., ie wth commas.

The two ways of saying it just reflect that the speaker is thinking of the group of archaelogists in different ways.

Clive

Clive · Answer

Hi,

how do we know for sure which tense this sentence is in, wouldn't it work fine in past continuous as well? I.e. "A group of archeologist who were exploring the island have discovered X"?

are exploring - they still are.

were exploring - just tells us about the past

The use of the Present Perfect makes it likely that the exploring is also a present activvity.

Clive

Senroeash · Answer

I agree, for me it would work find either as defining or non-defining and in both present or past, but the book lead us all, me included, to think that only the one option was viable. Maybe that's just the problem of decontextualised exercises.

Thanks a lot for answering.

Robert

Why doesn't this sentence work as a non-defining relative clause?

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