Relative clause

[ckcgordon]

Today, I saw the following sign:

"Always give priority to people with special needs who has to use the lift"

Is this sentence grammatical? Can anyone tell me whether the part "who has to use the lift" can be put after the word "needs"? (I think the relative clause here is referring to "people", so it cannot be separated by anything.)

Another question is whether we can express the meaning in a simpler way. Can I simply say "Always give priority to people with special needs to use the lift" or "Always let people with special needs to use the lift first"?

[Serenafaye]

Shouldn't "has" be "have" ?

Always give priority to people with special needs who HAVE to use the lift

Serena

[ckcgordon]

Yes, Serena. This is my typo:

"Always give priority to people with special needs who have to use the lift"

But does it mean that you think the sentence is ok? Do you think "people" and "who have to use the lift" can be separated by something?

And do you think if it is necessary to simplify the sentence a bit?

[Soup]

"Always give priority to people with special needs who have to use the lift"

Do you think "people" and "who have to use the lift" can be separated by something?

The sentence is OK.
The prepositional phrase with special needs modifies the noun people.
That is, it's part of the noun phrase:

[people [with special needs]] who use the lift

[ckcgordon]

Thanks for your analysis, Soup.
By the way, which of the following sentences do you prefer:

Always give priority to people with special needs who have to use the lift.

Always let people with special needs to use the lift first.

[Naamplao]

Thanks for your analysis, Soup.
By the way, which of the following sentences do you prefer:

Always give priority to people with special needs who have to use the lift.

Always let people with special needs to use the lift first.

Always let people with special needs use the lift first.

[Soup]

Thanks for your analysis, Soup.
By the way, which of the following sentences do you prefer:

Always give priority to people with special needs who have to use the lift.

Always let people with special needs to use the lift first.

I agree with Naamplao. The second one.