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 #2 (permalink) Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:33 am A relative clause that seems to have two sentences without a conjunction |
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Hi,
Understood in this sentence:
| Quote: |
| to deport any foreigner he thought |
is the relative pronoun 'who/that'. In other words:
| Quote: |
| to deport any foreigner who/that he thought was ... |
Alan
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Alan
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| #3 (permalink) Thu Feb 17, 2011 15:30 pm A relative clause that seems to have two sentences without a conjunction |
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In that clause, there seems to be two verbs; thought and was.
Which is the main verb?
How can you relate 'he thought' to another verb 'was', grammatically? |
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 Khenry
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| #4 (permalink) Thu Feb 17, 2011 16:46 pm A relative clause that seems to have two sentences without a conjunction |
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Hi Khenry,
Let me try analyzing this sentence for you. It is actually a combination of two independent but related sentences.
Another of the Alien Acts allowed the president to deport any foreigner. He thought (that) that foreigner was dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.
The whole "that...United States" is a noun clause acting as an object for the verb "thought." Now we use relative pronoun "who" to combine the two sentences. Since "that foreigner" has been mentioned in the first sentence, it is replaced by "who." We have:
Another of the Alien Acts allowed the president to deport any foreigner (who) he thought (that) was dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.
Finally, we omit the unnecessary "who" and "that" and we have your sentence.
| Quote: |
In that clause, there seems to be two verbs; thought and was.
Which is the main verb? |
I think "thought" is the main verb; "was" is just a verb inside a noun clause modifying "thought." I know two of them standing next to each other seems weird, but it's just a result of the noun clause marker (that) reduction.
P.S: I'm just a learner, so I would appreciate if some native speakers can confirm whether or not my interpretation and explanation are correct.
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Atomos
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| #5 (permalink) Thu Feb 17, 2011 16:54 pm Re: A relative clause that seems to have two sentences without a conjunction |
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I'd like to tell you my opinion
| Khenry wrote: |
Another of the Alien Acts allowed the president to deport any foreigner he thought was "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States."
In above example, I have trouble understanding the relation of the underlined, 'he thought', to the rest of the sentence.
Some say 'he thought' has no structural role except being an parenthetical element.
Is it true?[/u] |
Another of the Alien Acts allowed the president to deport any foreigner who, he thought, was "dangerous" to the peace and safety of the United States.
was ~ linking verb
"who, he thought, was "dangerous" to the peace and safety of the US." is a defining relative clause. (defines the any foreigner)
"he thought" I can see as an additional remark in the defining sentence.
?
Thanks |
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E2e4
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| #6 (permalink) Thu Feb 17, 2011 16:57 pm A relative clause that seems to have two sentences without a conjunction |
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I am for you Atomos.
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