clause

[navi tasan]

Are these sentences correct:
1-I took my car to his garage, whose engine didn't work properly.
2-I took the car to his garage whose engine didn't work properly.

3-I told Jane that joke, who is tall and intelligent.
4-I told Jane that joke, tall and intelligent.

5-I took Jane to his café, who is tall and intelligent.
6-I took Jane to his café, tall and intelligent.

Originally Posted by navi tasan

Are these sentences correct:
1-I took my car to his garage, whose engine didn't work properly.
2-I took the car to his garage whose engine didn't work properly.

3-I told Jane that joke, who is tall and intelligent.
4-I told Jane that joke, tall and intelligent.

5-I took Jane to his café, who is tall and intelligent.
6-I took Jane to his café, tall and intelligent.

I would rewrite them as follows. If you have any questions about the changes I make, let me know and I will try to answer them.

1. I took my car to his garage because its engine wasn't working properly.
2. I took my car to his garage because the engine wasn't working properly.

3. I told that joke to Jane, who is very tall and intelligent.
4. Jane is very tall and intelligent and I told her a joke.

I would make sentences 3 and 4 into 2 separate sentences. The 2 ideas don't go well together in the same sentence.

I would say the same thing about sentences 5 and 6. The 2 ideas don't seem to go very well together in the same sentence.

5. Jane is very tall and intelligent. I took her to his cafe.
6. I took Jane to his cafe. She is very tall and intelligent.


If you have any questions about the changes I made, let me know and I'll try to answer them.

[navi tasan]

Thank you Talkdown. Your rewrites do sound a lot more natural than my sentences. But I was trying to figure out if/when one could displace a relative clause. My sentences do sound a bit stinted I suppose, specially out of context, but I wanted to see whether they were grammatically acceptable or not. (I have been criticized for this before, but since I work as a translator from time to time I try to hunt down cases like this which in certain contexts may create ambiguity).

Imagine this conversation: "John says you never take any intelligent or good-looking girls to his café."
"That's not true. I took Jane to his café yesterday, who is both good-looking and intelligent."
I think this is correct, although your rewrite is also good or perhaps even better.
I wonder however if "I took Jane to his café yesterday, good-looking and intelligent." would be at all correct.

Have a Happy New Year!

Originally Posted by navi tasan

Thank you Talkdown. Your rewrites do sound a lot more natural than my sentences. But I was trying to figure out if/when one could displace a relative clause. My sentences do sound a bit stinted I suppose, specially out of context, but I wanted to see whether they were grammatically acceptable or not. (I have been criticized for this before, but since I work as a translator from time to time I try to hunt down cases like this which in certain contexts may create ambiguity).

Imagine this conversation: "John says you never take any intelligent or good-looking girls to his café."
"That's not true. I took Jane to his café yesterday, who is both good-looking and intelligent."
I think this is correct, although your rewrite is also good or perhaps even better.
I wonder however if "I took Jane to his café yesterday, good-looking and intelligent." would be at all correct.

Have a Happy New Year!

"John says you never take any intelligent or good-looking girls to his café."
"That's not true. I took Jane to his café yesterday, who is both good-looking and intelligent." <<

Now that you have put that statement into context, it makes more sense. Out of context, it didn't really seem very logical. However, I would still suggest rewriting it this way. "That's not true. I took Jane, who is both good-looking and intelligent, to his cafe."

______________________________________

I wonder however if "I took Jane to his café yesterday, good-looking and intelligent." would be at all correct. <<

No. That would not be correct. I would rewrite it like this. "I took Jane, who is good-loooking and intelligent, to his cafe yesterday."


Once again, if you have any questions about my rewrites, just let me know. I will try to answer them.

Happy new year!
8) :)