The table, whose legs were broken, / the legs of which were broken, has been...

Status
Not open for further replies.

Tan Elaine

Key Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
English
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
1. The table, whose legs were broken, has been thrown away.

2. The table, the legs of which were broken, has been thrown away.

a) For the first sentence, are the commas needed?

b) Which is the more natural sentence, the first or the second?

Thanks.
 

Drear Pooson

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Not a teacher.


a) Yes (if there is but one table as sentence 2 suggests).

b) Probably 1.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I am having a debate with myself as to whether I would use "whose" when referring to an inanimate object such as a table.

I think I would be more likely to say:

The table with the broken legs has been thrown away.
The table was thrown away because its legs were broken.

The first suggests there was more than one table so you are being clear which one was thrown away. The second suggests there is only one table and you are making a point of explaining why it was thrown away.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top