Dcomest Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
Need your insight!
Question 1] ..............................................................................
Please look at the sentences below:
(1) On which bed did he sleep?
(2) Which bed did he sleep on?
The preposition "on" can be put on both places, but I'm not sure why some of the sentences below are ungrammatical, while others grammatical. How can I explain this? I need your help.
1.
(a) Until what time are you staying? (grammatical)
(b) What time are you staying until? (NOT grammatical)
2.
(a) Like what is he? (NOT grammatical)
(b) What is he like? (grammatical)
3.
Book and what did you buy? (NOT grammatical)
4.
Who and who came? (NOT grammatical))
5.
When and where were you born? (grammatical)
6.
Who said what to whom? (grammatical)
Question 2]
..............................................................................
a. They could have canceled their trip.
b. They were able to cancel their trip.
According to the textbook,
"According to both sentences, they had the opportunity to cancel their trip. According to the second sentence, they did not cancel; according to the first sentence, they did."
Is this true? I thought the opposite is true.
Question 3]
..............................................................................
Why are (b) and (c) ungrammatical while (a) is grammatical?
(a) What John preferred was for Mary to leave early.
(b) *What John believed was for Mary to leave early.
(c) *What John persuaded was for Mary to leave early.
but (e) and (f) is grammatically correct.
(e) What the colonists wanted was to be free from external taxation.
(f) What the colonists believed was that they should be freed from external taxation.
Any insight?
Thanks in advance.
Jay from ROK
Please look at the sentences below:
(1) On which bed did he sleep?
(2) Which bed did he sleep on?
The preposition "on" can be put on both places, but I'm not sure why some of the sentences below are ungrammatical, while others grammatical. How can I explain this? I need your help.
1.
(a) Until what time are you staying? (grammatical)
(b) What time are you staying until? (NOT grammatical)
2.
(a) Like what is he? (NOT grammatical)
(b) What is he like? (grammatical)
3.
Book and what did you buy? (NOT grammatical)
4.
Who and who came? (NOT grammatical))
5.
When and where were you born? (grammatical)
6.
Who said what to whom? (grammatical)
Question 2]
..............................................................................
a. They could have canceled their trip.
b. They were able to cancel their trip.
According to the textbook,
"According to both sentences, they had the opportunity to cancel their trip. According to the second sentence, they did not cancel; according to the first sentence, they did."
Is this true? I thought the opposite is true.
Question 3]
..............................................................................
Why are (b) and (c) ungrammatical while (a) is grammatical?
(a) What John preferred was for Mary to leave early.
(b) *What John believed was for Mary to leave early.
(c) *What John persuaded was for Mary to leave early.
but (e) and (f) is grammatically correct.
(e) What the colonists wanted was to be free from external taxation.
(f) What the colonists believed was that they should be freed from external taxation.
Any insight?
Thanks in advance.
Jay from ROK
Top answer
Hello Dcomest I'll do a couple, and maybe someone else will do the rest: 1. (a) Until what time are you staying? (grammatical)/(b) What time are you staying until?
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Hello Dcomest
I'll do a couple, and maybe someone else will do the rest:
1. (a) Until what time are you staying? (grammatical)/(b) What time are you staying until? (NOT grammatical)
– I don't find sentence 1b ungrammatical; though I would be more likely to say "what time are you staying till?"
2a. They could have canceled their trip./b. They were able to cance
I'll do a couple, and maybe someone else will do the rest:
1. (a) Until what time are you staying? (grammatical)/(b) What time are you staying until? (NOT grammatical)
– I don't find sentence 1b ungrammatical; though I would be more likely to say "what time are you staying till?"
2a. They could have canceled their trip./b. They were able to cance
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Why are (b) and (c) ungrammatical while (a) is grammatical?
(a) What John preferred was for Mary to leave early.
(b) *What John believed was for Mary to leave early.
(c) *What John persuaded was for Mary to leave early.
but (e) and (f) is grammatically correct.
(e) What the colonists wanted was to be free from external taxation.
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