Can you please answer me the below question.
earth is revolving around sun, which is not getting tired.
in the above sentence, is ‘which’ refers to ‘earth’ or ‘Sun’
Please give some explanation also.
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Your sentences are not grammatical. So....Often, Indian English uses continuous instead of simple present. The Earth revolves around the Sun, which is not getting tired. Which refers to the Sun. Please note the question form in English: Does "which" refer to the Earth or the Sun?– LambieCommented Dec 13, 2017 at 19:39
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As Lambie mentions your example is not grammatically correct, but in relation to your question, there is not enough context to tell whether "which" refers to the Earth or the Sun. It could be either. Logically, since the Earth is the one moving, it's more likely to "get tired" but that's just a guess.– AndrewCommented Dec 13, 2017 at 21:52
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2@Andrew - Can you explain how which could refer to the Earth here? To me, it could only possibly refer to the Sun. In a sentence like "X does Y, which Z", which Z can only refer to Y or the act itself, but it couldn't possibly refer to X.– stangdonCommented Dec 13, 2017 at 23:54
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@stangdon You may be right. To me logically if the Earth is doing the motion then it would be the one getting tired, and I guess because of the otherwise incorrect grammar I was reading between the lines.– AndrewCommented Dec 14, 2017 at 5:14
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1 Answer
In your sentence (note corrections):
"The earth is revolving around the sun, which is not getting tired."
it is the sun which is not getting tired.
The which clause can refer either to the object of the main clause (the sun) or to the whole main clause (The earth is revolving around the sun). In most case, the choice between these two meanings is obvious from the context but sometimes there is ambiguity. Consider the sentence:
The earth is revolving around the sun, which makes astronomy complicated.
This could mean that the sun makes astronomy complicated or that the earth revolving around the sun makes astronomy complicated.
