Douglas Adams
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Editor: Douglas Adams |
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More often than not native speakers will choose to shorten a group one adjective clause whenever possible. This can be done in one of two ways: through active deletion or passive reduction. Active deletion is usually the easier of the two ways since it doesn't involve the use of the passive, so it's also a good place for us to begin. Simply put, in most cases, we can delete the direct object relative pronoun as long as it isn't replacing a proper noun, gerund, or infinitive. Thus...
becomes...
Notice what happens when we replace the man with a proper name.
Our sentence is no longer correct and sounds noticeably strange to a native speaker. It's worth noting at this point that it's sometimes difficult for students to recognize whether a word is a proper noun or not. A helpful guideline in distinguishing a proper noun is that they are usually capitalized. For a little more advanced students, a better way to decide whether or not a relative pronoun can be deleted involves determining whether the information in the adjective clause is just extra info or is necessary to know which person, place or thing we're talking about. For example: Tom, whom Bob saw in the park, works at the library. In the sentence above, the fact that Bob saw Tom in the park is just extra information about Tom. We don't need it in order to know who Tom is. [In fact, if you think about it, this will be true for any proper noun.] If the information in the adjective clause is just extra, then we can not delete the relative pronoun.*Note: extra information is separated by commas around the adjective clause. Conversely, if the information in the adjective clause is necessary in order to ID who or what we're describing, then we can delete the relative pronoun. For example: The man, whom Bob saw in the park, works at the library...becomes... For example: The man, Bob saw in the park, works at the library. Without the information that it's the man Bob saw in the park, we would not know which man we're talking about, so it's neccessary information and we can delete the relative pronoun whom. However, this approach does not always work in deciding whether or not to delete an object of a preposition relative pronoun.[where and when] For example: The city, where Bob lives, is modern and growing. Even though the adjective clause contains necessary info to know which city we're talking about, we can not simply delete the word where without adding a preposition. This is due to the fact that the preposition [location meaning] is already implied in the word where. Thus, we need to write... For example: The city, Bob lives in, is modern and growing. *For lower-level students, it's often enough just to let them know that the only time you can delete the word where is when it's preceded by the word place or a synonym. I know the place where Tom lives....can become... I know the place Tom lives. This is due to the fact that the meaning of where is place. Since they have the same meaning, we don't need both words. Unfortunately, this simple trick doesn't hold true for clauses containing the word when. Obviously, we can delete when after the word time or a synonym, but we can also delete when after other words as well. A useful guideline is to think about it in terms of proper nouns or extra vs. necessary information. For example: The day, when Bob moved to his new apartment, was warm and sunny.[necessary information]..becomes... For example: The day, Bob moved to his new apartment, was warm and sunny. * Special Note: A specific time [3:00 pm, December 25th, lunchtime...] is usually treated like a proper noun. Therefore, the relative pronoun when is not deleted. As a "proper noun", the info in the adjective clause is extra. Although the methods described above works quite well, there is also another way more advanced students can decide whether to delete the relative pronoun where and when. In addressing this issue, a more subtle test comes into play since where and when are always used as objects of a preposition in an adjective clause. Thus, if a place or time can be replaced by another relative pronoun like which/that, then the relative pronoun is probably not being used as an object of a preposition and is therefore deletable. This requires a certain degree of native-speaker-like intuition though and is most useful for advanced students. The ability to substitute in the relative pronoun which/that indicates the place is being used as a thing, not a place where some action is happening.
Even though a park is a place, in this example it is being used as a thing that someone likes. In contrast, in the sentence... Tom visits the park where he plays soccer. ...the park is being used as a place where some action (playing soccer) happens and is therefore, an object of a preposition. In this case, we cannot remove where and replace it with which/that and still have a valid sentence. Tom visits the park that he plays soccer. The word where has the preposition implied in its meaning already while the word which/that does not. So, we cannot simply replace the relative pronoun without adding a preposition, and thus, cannot just simply delete. If we write out the adjective clause in normal sentence order, we can see this more clearly. ex: He plays soccer where. [Since where means "the park", our sentence becomes.....He plays soccer in the park.] The fact that we must add a preposition shows the park is a place and not a thing.] When deciding whether to delete with a time word, we face a similar issue. The relative pronoun which/that indicates the time is being used as a thing, not a time when some action is happening.
Even though a day is a time, in this example it is being used as a thing that someone remembers. In contrast, in the sentence...
...the word yesterday is being used as a time when some action (Tom visited) happened and is therefore, an object of a preposition. In this case, we cannot remove when and replace it with which/that and still have a valid sentence. To make the second sentence correct would require the addition of the preposition on. |
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