Relative clause

“ Sometimes a subordinate clause is such only in its external form, and in sense is principal. It then takes the Infinitive with Subject Accusative. This occurs especially in case of relative clauses, where quī is equivalent to et hīc, nam hīc, etc. ”

“ We know that we are to choose 'the best novel': the relative clause limits us to the works of Trollope. We are to choose 'any man' we like, provided (says our relative clause) that he 'knows three words of Greek '. In either case, the work of definition is done by the exclusion (implied in the relative clause) of persons or things that the antecedent by itself might be taken to include.
The point to notice is that, whichever way the defining clause does its work, it is essential to and inseparable from its antecedent. ”

“ It is true that we sometimes get ambiguous cases: after removing the relative clause, we cannot always say whether the sense has been altered or not. That means, however, not that our test has failed, but that the clause is actually capable of performing either function, and that the main sentence can bear two distinct meanings, between which even context may not enable us to decide. ”

“ When a defining relative has the same preposition as its antecedent, it is not uncommon, in the written as well as in the spoken language, to omit the preposition in the relative clause. There is something to be said for a licence that rids us of such cumbrous formulae as 'in the way in which', 'to the extent to which', and the like; in writing, however, it should be used with caution if at all. ”

“ Much has been written upon the subject, but the critics still differ in theory and in practice. The following is probably as simple a statement of the general rule as can be found:
If the relative clause is of such a nature that it could be introduced by and he, and she, and it, and they, etc., the relative who (for persons) and which (for animals or things) should be used in preference to the relative that.
“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” ”

“ A concessive clause may be introduced by the conjunction as, or by a relative pronoun or a relative adverb.
{Whatever you say, | Whichever argument you present, | However much you object,} he will carry his point. Weak as I am, I will make the effort. Gay as the scene was, ’twas but a dreary place for Mr. Esmond. Note. The adverbial use of however is quite distinct from its use as a coördinate conjunction (§ 362) .
402. Concession is sometimes expressed by a subjunctive clause without a conjunction to introduce it (§ 281) .
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. ”

“ Here the clause modifies the subject it, and the sentence transposed reads, “It that fear danger from below more than from above is only birds of prey.” This sounds ungrammatical, but it is the interpretation of the original sentence.
In regard to the position of the connective, it is commonly the first word in the clause; but when who or which is object of a preposition, the preposition leads, and sometimes the subject of the clause precedes the preposition and the relative ”

“ Who was little used as a relative till about the sixteenth century. Bain says: "In modern use, more especially in books, who is frequently employed to introduce a clause intended to restrict, define, limit, or explain a noun (or its equivalent) ; as, 'That is the man who spoke to us yesterday.'"
"Here the clause introduced by who is necessary to define or explain the antecedent the man; without it, we do not know who the man is. Such relative clauses are typical adjective clauses—i. ”

“ But neque (for nēve) is sometimes used in a second Purpose Clause when ut stands in the first, and, after the Augustan era, even when the first clause is introduced by nē.
f. Purpose Clauses sometimes stand in apposition with a preceding noun or pronoun: as,—
hāc causā, ut pācem habērent, on this account, that they might have peace.
2. A Relative Pronoun (quī) or Adverb (ubi, unde, quō) is frequently used to introduce a Purpose Clause; as,—
Helvētiī lēgātōs mittunt, quī dīcerent, the Helvetii sent envoys to say (lit. who should say) ”

“ Shall and Will in Questions. In interrogative sentences shall should always be used with the first person. In the second and third persons that auxiliary should be used which is logically expected in the answer.
Examine the agreement in the use of shall and will in the following questions and answers:
Page 73 67. Shall and Will in Dependent Clauses. In dependent clauses which are introduced by that, expressed or understood, the auxiliary should be used which would be proper if the dependent clause were a principal clause. The sentence, They assure us that they shall come, is wrong. ”

“ The clause just quoted is crucial; its words are plain and, having regard to the connection in which they are used, must be given the meaning naturally attributable to them. It is obvious that they do not extend to hampers other than the nine classes defined in section 1. ”

“ We do not agree to this construction. Although the wording of the clause occasions some obscurity and hesitation, yet, regarding the sense and substance of it, there can be little doubt about its meaning. ”

“ It is only when different clauses of an act are so dependent upon each other that it is evident the legislat re would not have enacted one of them without the other-as when the two things provided are necessary parts of one system-that the whole act will fall with the invalidity of one clause. ”

“ It is usually best not to have more than three clauses at the beginning and even three must be handled with great care. Three clauses at the beginning, if at all long, bury the speaker's name too deeply and may become too complicated. Unless the clauses are very closely related in idea, it is usually better not to use more than two. Naturally when more than one that-clause is used in the lead, all of the clauses must be gathered together at the beginning; never should one precede and one follow the principal verb. ”

“ The clauses are therefore said to be coördinate,—that is, of the same “order” or rank, and the sentence is called compound.
In the second example, on the contrary, the relation between the two clauses is indicated with precision. One clause (the train started) makes the main statement,—it expresses the chief fact. Hence it is called the main (or principal) clause. The other clause (when the bell rang) is added because the speaker wishes to modify the main verb (started) by defining the time of the action. This clause, then, is used as a part of speech. ”

“ Glorious in beauty though it be, is scarred
With tokens of old wars.”—Bryant.
Transposing this clause to the natural order, we have, “though it be glorious in beauty.”
In sentences containing a concessive clause the principal proposition is sometimes introduced by yet, a correlative of the connective in the clause. Yet is often used when the clause comes first and is long. It is useful in calling attention to the fact that the concession has all been stated, gathering it up, as it were, into one word before the principal statement is made. ”

“ The conjunction that, at the head of a sentence or clause, enables us to assume the whole preposition as one thing; as, "All arguments whatever are directed to prove one or other of these three things: that something is true; that it is morally right or fit; or that it is profitable and good."--Blair's Rhet., p. 318. Here each that may be parsed as connecting its own clause to the first clause in the sentence; or, to the word things with which the three clauses are in a sort of apposition. If we conceive it to have no such connecting power, we must make this too an exception. ”

“ That in one class of cases, 'the character of the parties is every thing, the nature of the case nothing;' in the other, 'the nature of the case is every thing, the character of the parties nothing.' That the clause relating to cases in law or equity, arising under the constitution, laws, and treaties, makes no exception in terms, or regards 'the condition of the party.' If there be any exception, it is to be implied against the express words of the article. ”

“ It is easy to perceive the class of cases, for which this provision was made; for example, when disputes about boundaries between two states arise. It is easy also to imagine many other cases, apparently within the letter, and yet not within the meaning, and so excluded by a just construction of the clause. ”

“ Would not every clause and section have its own plain and intelligible sense? Especially would not the last clause or section have a full and sufficient both sense and application without any man's dreaming for a single moment of there being contained in it a repeal of any portion of the table or schedule of degrees? ”

“ The most that can be said is, that where the words of the devise admit of passing a greater interest than for life, Courts will lay hold of the introductory clause, to assist them in ascertaining the intention. ”

“ Consequently, the though clause must be a part (a subordinate part) of the second coordinate, and must draw from that its subject and verb: 'though he is not a man of Bismarckian frankness for long,...'. Even if we could supply I saw with the clause in its present place, we should still have the absurd implication that the man's habitual frankness (not the writer's perception of it) depended on the duration of the interview. We offer three conjectural emendations: 'I have now seen him, though not for long; and he is a man who...' ”

“ Pure clauses, being from their nature more or less otiose, belong rather to the spoken than to the written language. It follows that a good writer will seldom have a causal as clause of any kind at the end of a sentence. ”

“ First, if the concluding clause is considered as an independent entity and perused for its plain meaning, it seems clear that the most obvious referents of the words are found in their immediate statutory context. ”

“ A conditional clause may be introduced by whoever, whenever, or some similar compound (§§ 159, 195) .
Whoever offends, is punished. [Compare: If anybody offends, he is punished.] Whoever shall offend, shall be punished. Whomever you ask, you will be disappointed. [Compare: If you shall ask anybody.] He will come whenever [= if ever] he is called. Note. In older English and in poetry, who is common in this construction: as,—“Who [= whoever] steals my purse, steals trash” (Shakspere) .
417. A conditional clause sometimes omits the copula and its subject. ”

“ The reason is that, although a pure clause may stand at any point in the sentence, a mixed one must always precede the main statement. The pure clause, having only the subordinate function normally indicated by as, is subordinate in sense as well as in grammar; and the declining accentuation with which it is accordingly pronounced will not be interfered with wherever we may place it. But the mixed clause has another function, that of conveying a new fact, for which as docs not prepare us, and which entitles it to an accentuation as full and as varied as that of the main statement. ”

“ In clauses of both varieties given above there is often an ellipsis, the words omitted being those already expressed in the principal proposition and hence easily supplied. In the sentence, “Mrs. Patten had more respect for her neighbor Mr. Hackit than for most people,” when we analyze the clause we must fill it out so as to make it read, than she had respect for most people.
3. The clause of degree may tell not that things stand to each other in a relation of equality or inequality, but that they vary in the same proportion ”

“ First, the reader must treat the words “foreign or domestic” as a single, undifferentiated clause (rather than as a disjunctive grouping of descriptors) . Second, the reader must take that undifferentiated clause to mean “anywhere and everywhere.” Each move is plausible; neither is “clear.” ”

“ An independent clause is one that is not dependent on any other clause for the completion of its meaning; as, Take short views | hope for the best | and trust in God. Independent clauses are frequently connected by and, or, nor, but.
2. When the clauses are short and closely united, the comma may be omitted; as, “Death had lost its terrors and pleasure its charms.”
3. When the clauses are long and divided into smaller portions by commas, they should be separated from each other by semicolons. ”

“ If the long clause beginning with which is intended merely to show how great the weariness is, and which is practically equivalent to so great that, it may be called a defining clause, and the omission of the comma is right. But if the which really acts as a mere connexion to introduce a new fact that the correspondent wishes to record, the clause is non-defining, and the comma ought according to our rule to be inserted before it.
The man, who thinketh in his heart and hath the power straightway (very straightway) to go and do it, is not so common in any country. ”

“ The court answers the first, second, and fourth questions in the negative, and the third in the affirmative. Its answer is in the negative to the first clause, and in the affirmative to the second clause, of the fifth question. ”

“ Here as, if, and that connect each a lower, or subordinate, clause to a clause of higher rank, and hence are called +Subordinate Conjunctions+. One clause may be independent and the other dependent, or both dependent but of unequal rank.
+DEFINITIONS.+ +A Conjunction is a word used to connect words, phrases, or clauses+. [Footnote: Some of the co-ordinate conjunctions, as and and but, connect, in thought, sentences separated by the period, and even connect paragraphs. In analysis and parsing, we regard only the individual sentence and treat such connectives as introductory.] ”