17
votes
It seems the main clause is absent in this complex sentence. Why is it correct?
The main clause is the one headed by the verb "is", so the bracketing is:
(What surprises me) is (that they are fond of snakes and lizards).
Both the subject and its complement are content ...
- 202k
8
votes
Accepted
It seems the main clause is absent in this complex sentence. Why is it correct?
[What surprises me] is that they are fond of snakes and lizards.
The main clause is the whole sentence in a 'fused' relative construction.
The subject "what surprises me", is not a clause ...
- 15.8k
5
votes
'I was eating when he came home' vs 'He came home when I was eating'
In English, the first word/words of the sentence usually have more emphasis than later words. People pay the most attention to the beginning of each sentence and less to the end. This is because ...
- 1,170
4
votes
How shall "...with his denial that we have any grasp of the way the world is independent of the way our minds construct our experience" be parsed?
The prepositional with can introduce something that rubs shoulders with something else, which is temporally right next to it, so to speak:
And with that remark, he left the room.
And that notion of ...
- 3,049
3
votes
Accepted
Is the which clause in this sentence used correctly?
It's not great poetry, but it's fine.
A "simp" may be a person, but it is also a thing.
Think of plumbers. They're people but they're also a profession (at least in abbreviation).
"This ...
- 1,196
3
votes
Accepted
What is the subject of the verb [settle]? He waited until complete quiet settled on the assembly
The relevant "core" sense of to settle is essentially change from an active / dynamic state to a static unchanging state. Typically, this sense occurs in, for example,...
Eventually the ...
- 68.6k
3
votes
At a female bar, female bartenders serve you drinks. - What is the point in putting an adverbial phrase or clause at the beginning of a sentence?
It is not about basic meaning that can be derived from the sentence taken as a whole but about the ordering of information so that the information is delivered in an order that is conducive to the ...
- 3,049
2
votes
Tenses in subordinate clauses
The difference is that with present simple the clause refers to the time when the event starts, but with the present perfect version, it refers to the time when the event is finished.
So your sentence ...
- 48.8k
2
votes
How shall "...with his denial that we have any grasp of the way the world is independent of the way our minds construct our experience" be parsed?
He denies that we have any (understanding of the way the world is) that's independent of (the way our minds construct our experience).
It's a garden-path sentence even for a native speaker. Replacing &...
- 141
2
votes
Accepted
Negation after "but"
Your sentences 1b and 2b are more idiomatic if you use but not, which is
a coordinator with a negative, used to exclude something after stating a generalization (grammar-quizzes)
So your sentences ...
- 9,339
2
votes
Is the which clause in this sentence used correctly?
Firstly "simp" is a rather nasty little word. Avoid it.
To expand slightly on BillJ's comment. One would use "who" when describing a person, but "which" when describing ...
- 202k
1
vote
"be the way you are" vs. "be the way as you are"
The noun "way" has some peculiar features. As with other nouns, we can modify it with a relative clause:
Don't be afraid of being the way in which you are.
However, in many cases (such as ...
- 15.3k
1
vote
'I was eating when he came home' vs 'He came home when I was eating'
Is there any difference between these two sentences?
As simple statements devoid of context, “No, there is no difference”: someone was eating; someone came home.
If the question is about when you ...
- 2,320
1
vote
What does "that" refer to in " This option reduces stitching artifacts that result when"?
"That" is a subordinator and introduces the relative clause "result..."
In that relative clause "result" is the verb, and heads the clause. The subject of "result&...
- 202k
1
vote
If I knew where she <lived><lives> now, I'd go and see her
Your teacher is wrong.
The first sentence with "lived" is correct and much more natural than the second. The simple past form "lived" is correct because this sentence is in the ...
- 48.8k
1
vote
"I am curious what you think" or "I am curious about what you think"?
These are both OK to say.
You might say
"I am curious what you think"
immediately after sharing some new information with the listener, or reporting another person's opinion on a topic. ...
- 3,556
1
vote
"I am curious what you think" or "I am curious about what you think"?
Prepositions can be omitted in some idiomatic phrases. For example, "I know John" can mean various things depending on the context, ranging from you knowing the person named really well as a ...
- 96k
1
vote
"I am curious what you think" or "I am curious about what you think"?
Both sentences sound fine to me.
I am curious about what you think.
In this version, "what you think" is another way of saying "your opinion" (or "your thoughts"). It ...
- 4,274
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