Correct pronoun reference?

Question

Hi. Is this sentence correct? I think it needs to be rewritten like this: A number of conflicts that nearly ended labor unions occurred. Thank you in advance.

A number of conflicts occurred that nearly ended labor unions.

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

From a strictly grammatical viewpoint, both sentences are correct. However, both sentences also have a minor problem - or at least some people would think so.

AnonymousA number of conflicts that nearly ended labor unions occurred.

The relative pronoun follows the antecedent a number of conflicts correctly, but in doing so it also leaves the main verb of the main clause alone at the end of the sentence. No grammarian that I know of says this is wrong, but I don't think it sounds very good to the ears of some people. (English has many self-imposed restrictions with regard to sounding natural.)

AnonymousA number of conflicts occurred that nearly ended labor unions.

Now the main clause has not been split into two parts but this has created another "problem": the relative has been separated from its antecedent by occurred. Ideally, the relative should follow the antecedent. I don't see a real problem here, though, since there is absolutely no possibility of misunderstanding the intended meaning. The antecedent cannot possibly be the verb occurred, nor can it be the entire main clause, which would require which preceded by a comma as a relative. So the antecedent must be a number of conflicts.

Neither sentence is ideal English but both are acceptable.

CB

PS You could of course change the antecedent slightly without really changing the meaning of the sentence by inserting a comma and thus making the entire main clause the antecedent: A number of conflicts occurred, which nearly ended labor unions.

Correct pronoun reference?

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