EVERYTHING (ALMOST) YOU WANTED TO KNOW (WHO WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS STUFF?), BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK. I am totally html inept, but will do my best to keep this blog supplied with plenty of syntax junk. The main aim here is to help my students (my future colleagues, in fact) come to grips with the syntax of English, even if they can't stand it.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

POSSESSIVE RELATIVE PRONOUN

Similar to quantities, possessive (genitive) qualities can be used together with a relative pronoun in the adjective clause. These are usually which (things) or whose (things and people).

e.g. WE HAVE A SPANISH STYLE HOUSE. THE EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSE IS WHITE.
- WE HAVE A SPANISH STYLE HOUSE, “THE EXTERIOR OF WHICH” IS WHITE.
- WE HAVE A SPANISH STYLE HOUSE, “WHOSE EXTERIOR” IS WHITE. This is more common in American English.

e.g. SHE HAS JUST BOUGHT A NEW CAR, THE COLOR OF WHICH I HATE.
- SHE HAS JUST BOUGHT A NEW CAR, WHOSE COLOR I HATE.

e.g. THE COMPANY HIRED A NEW SALES MANAGER, WHOSE ATITUDE IS QUITE A ANNOYING.
- When talking about people, it is not common to use “which”.

2 Comments:

Blogger Higor Cavalcante said...

The Syntax course, the content of which I loathe, is going to be a pain in the neck for me.

11:27 AM

 
Blogger Julia Robert said...


English Pronouns is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the English language.

Subject and Object Pronouns

3:15 PM

 

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