2

  1. Thank you, Lord, for the teachers those who care for me.

  2. Thank you, Lord, for the teachers who care for me.

Which of these two would be more correct?

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  • The second is correct. – Kevin Oct 26 '15 at 19:41
2

Option 2, "Thank you, Lord, for the teachers who care for me", is correct.

In order for Option 1 to be correct, there would have to be additional punctuation to break up the sentence appropriately.

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  • Please do not use code markdown on this site. It almost never means anything. – Nathan Tuggy Oct 26 '15 at 21:17
-1

In the first version, "...the teachers -- those who care for me", the those-who phrase is in apposition to "the teachers" and is supplemental.

In the second version, "...the teachers who care for me", the who-clause is subordinate.

The first version is somewhat unusual; it is a stylized utterance, in a non-conversational, somewhat formal register, not inappropriate for a prayer said by a congregation. The second is normal.

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  • 2
    Hmm, I don't see how #1 could be correct at all. You could say, "Thank you for those who care for me". I suppose if you added commas "those" could refer back, like "thank you for teachers, those who care for me", though even that seems pretty awkward to me. – Jay Aug 27 '15 at 18:59
  • I think my explanation already addresses the concerns you raise, Jay. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Aug 27 '15 at 19:12
  • Consider another example of an appositional supplemental phrase (again in the context of a prayer, to address the "seems-pretty-awkward" challenge you raise--it is not everyday speech): Let us pray for the homeless--those who have no roof over their heads. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Aug 27 '15 at 19:21
  • Also, with respect to punctuation ("I suppose if you added commas..."): punctuation does not impart grammaticality, rather it reflects grammaticality. – Tᴚoɯɐuo Aug 27 '15 at 19:24
  • Impart vs reflect: Hmm, maybe that depends on your definition of "grammar", but I think by the conventional definition, if I took an otherwise correct paragraph and changed all the periods to quotation marks and all the commas to question marks, I think people would say that the paragraph was now "grammatically incorrect". – Jay Aug 27 '15 at 19:50

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