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A relative clause always contains a relative pronoun, as we all know, it depends on the subject of our sentence if it's a thing or a person, or if it contains a possessive adjective, etc...
While I was practicing that, I found a problem with these two sentences:

The point of view is clear. The material discrepancy appears in it.

(use the suitable relative pronoun to connect these sentences)

If you try to use which, then the sentence will be:

The point of view, which the material discrepancy appears in, is clear

Notice that I omitted it)

But when I think again of using another relative pronoun, which is where, then I have to omit in and it:

The point of view,where the material discrepancy appears, is clear.

And my questions are:

  • Is it correct to use where in this sentence (since I feel the meaning is still clear?
  • If I use the last, have I to omit both in and it?
  • Which is more accurate to use: where or which?

another sentence:

Do you mind showing me the place? You live in it.

  • Do you mind showing me the place where you live?
  • Do you mind showing me the place which you live in?

1 Answer 1

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Where and when, either as interrogatives or as relatives, are not pronouns but pro-adverbs—they ‘stand for’ adverbials of place and time, respectively.

The place where I found it = the place at/in which I found it
Where did you find it? = At/in what place did you find it?
The time when I found it = the time at which I found it
When did you find it? = At what time did you find it?

It is thus not strictly true to say that “a relative clause always contains a relative pronoun”—it may also be headed by a relative pro-adverb. And in some cases (as in He told me to stop, which I did) the relative ‘pronoun’ is actually a component of a relative pro-verbal construction with DO.

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  • :I really want to get a clear answer about what I exactly want.The usage of which and where:Is it possible(or always to say)that every sentence contains (in it)can be connected with the other by where or which as I mentioned in the examples above??
    – kathrine
    Jun 11, 2014 at 18:16
  • @user55891 You can use where for in which only if the in expresses a (literal or figurative) place or direction. You should not, for instance, paraphrase The plot in which he was implicated as The plot where he was implicated. Jun 11, 2014 at 18:29
  • What do you mean with expresses a figurative??
    – kathrine
    Jun 11, 2014 at 18:49
  • @user55891 For instance, a book is a figurative location - it is fine to say "The Birth of Tragedy, where Nietzsche sets forth the contrast between the Dionysiac and the Appolonian ..." Jun 11, 2014 at 18:56
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    @Araucaria Hmm ... think I'll stick with "prolocative" for the time being. Or perhaps I'll go back to Ælfric and call it a "foresetness player". Nov 3, 2016 at 23:02

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