0

It is the pictorial strategy which was invented in the Renaissance.
It is the Pictorial strategy which the painters called perspective.

Can the joining of the two sentences be like this:

It is the pictorial strategy, which the painters called perspective, which is invented in the Renaissance.

It sounds odd.

It is the pictorial strategy, which the painters called perspective, invented in the Renaissance.

Please help with the grammar rules of joining multiple dependent clauses in one single sentence using the comma.

2
  • There really are no "rules", but there are common usages and guidelines. We would avoid sounding "odd" by rearranging things: "It is the pictorial strategy invented in the Renaissance, which the painters called perspective." English speakers will know that the antecedent of which is strategy. They will know that painters did not call "the Renaissance" by the name "perspective". Jul 22, 2017 at 21:39
  • I would recommend that you include (for context) the sentence that appears before the one you provide, the one that introduces the antecedent for it.
    – TimR
    Jul 23, 2017 at 13:08

1 Answer 1

1

You can chain together many sentences with commas, as many as you like. See here for an example of a structurally sound sentence 200 words long. This kind of long sentence is known as a "run-on" sentence and is generally considered poor style because it is difficult to understand.

Your example is not particularly long, but you do want to be clear what words in the sentence your clauses modify. For example, P.E. Dant's suggestion:

It is the pictorial strategy, invented in the Renaissance, which the painters called perspective.

My main criticism is that this sentence is too "wordy" to convey the information in contains. You can write it more simply as:

The pictorial strategy called perspective was invented in the Renaissance.

or

The Renaissance painters who invented this pictorial strategy called it perspective.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .