| Welcome Guest | Forum Search | Active Topics | Members | Log In | Register | |
|
|
Rank: Member
Joined: 1/15/2012
Posts: 111
Points: 333
Location: United States, CA
|
In the sentence, "Sparky ate the entire pizza, which alarmed Martha," technically the antecedent is "pizza". But that hardly makes sense. I've found only one reference that claimed the antecedent can be a clause. Is all this a matter of personal preference? Writers sometimes ignore the "rules". E.g., Jane Austen frequently used "their" as a third person singular pronoun.
It is like the sound of one hand clapping.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/12/2011
Posts: 2,201
Points: 6,631
Location: Scotland (via Earth, Sol system)
|
Hmmm.  Well, it wasn't me! Honest! The Wiki article in TFD says "However, an antecedent can also be a clause..."In the sentence you quote, you could replace the "which" with the phrase "The fact he ate all the pizza" - you could not replace it with "Pizza". If you do, you change the whole meaning. "Sparky ate the entire pizza. The fact he ate all the pizza alarmed Martha." I don't know if it is a 'foolproof' rule, but that is a good test to show to what a clause refers. Many writers do ignore rules, if they feel another expression will sound better. There is always 'Rule Zero" - "To every rule there is an exception."
Though lovers be lost, love shall not, and Death shall have no dominion. - Dylan Thomas
|
|
Rank: Member
Joined: 1/28/2012
Posts: 1,832
Points: 5,097
Location: Germany Munich
|
An online grammar which deals with the problem is Purdue OWL http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/645/2/'which' as a relative pronoun referring to a clause is on the second page. Quote: Some Special Uses of Relative Pronouns in Non-Defining Clauses which If you are referring to the previous clause as a whole, use which: My friend eventually decided to get divorced, which upset me a lot. - Unquote Remark: I would generate this special use of 'which' in this way: My friend decided to get divorced, which (fact/circumstance) upset me a lot.
|
|
Rank: Member
Joined: 1/28/2012
Posts: 1,832
Points: 5,097
Location: Germany Munich
|
PS I have known the link of Purdue OWL for some time but have no experience with it - but I have the feeling Purdue OWL is a reliable online grammar.
I would like to know more such links to good online grammars.
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/12/2011
Posts: 2,201
Points: 6,631
Location: Scotland (via Earth, Sol system)
|
rogermue wrote:Quote:Remark: I would generate this special use of 'which' in this way:
My friend decided to get divorced, which (fact/circumstance) upset me a lot. Yes, it sometimes helps make the sentence less confusing: "Sparky ate the entire pizza, which fact alarmed Martha," stresses that you are not saying that the pizza alarmed Martha. It is not so important in this sentence, but sometimes it is more complex: "In 1800 Goethe's friend Schelling published his System des transscendentalen Idealismus, which work accelerated Goethe's shift away from realism toward idealism." means the book affected Goethe. "In 1800 Goethe's friend Schelling published his System des transscendentalen Idealismus, which accelerated Goethe's shift away from realism toward idealism." means the fact of publishing affected Goethe. Quote:I would like to know more such links to good online grammars. I find the Wiki articles are worth looking at, but sometimes become much too complex and 'theoretical' (as they tend to cover comparative linguistics, not just English Grammar).
Though lovers be lost, love shall not, and Death shall have no dominion. - Dylan Thomas
|
|
Rank: Member
Joined: 1/28/2012
Posts: 1,832
Points: 5,097
Location: Germany Munich
|
Just right. And sometimes the Wikipedia Grammar is incomplete - I looked the problem up and didn't find a comment on 'which' with reference to the clause before. It might as well be I didn't look carefully.
|
|
|
Guest |