[Grammar] Relative pronouns and relative clauses

[ronao]

If I compare: It was his answer that caused his anger with The girl that wrote the letter is upstairs. Is that caused his anger a restrictive relative clause in the same way as that wrote the letter?

I notice a difference between these sentences and can't tell which it is. After the first sentence a predicate is missing. I'm very confused.
I know sentence 1 is a cleft sentence but I'm referring to the relative clauses within sentence 1 and sentence 2.
Thanks in advance.

 

[probus]

Well, if you can't tell what the difference is, how can we reply? You said you notice a difference. Please tell us what you noticed.

 

[mawes12]

I think "that caused his anger" is an appositive phrase for/renaming "it" and "that wrote the letter" is a relative clause that is describing "the girl". Is that what you needed to understand?

Not a teacher.

 

[ronao]

Well, if you can't tell what the difference is, how can we reply? You said you notice a difference. Please tell us what you noticed.

What I notice is that after that caused his anger a predicate is missing and after that wrote the letter
there is a predicate but I can't see if these defferent structures make different kinds of clauses. Could you help me, please?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ronao]

I think "that caused his anger" is an appositive phrase for/renaming "it" and "that wrote the letter" is a relative clause that is describing "the girl". Is that what you needed to understand?

Not a teacher.

That's the point. What confuses me is that if 'that' is a relative pronoun what follows it must be a relative clause and as a relative clause, in my opinion, it is incomplete.
From your point of view, it is an appositive phrase but not a clause. In this case, what is 'that' there?
I'll analyse this possibility.
Thanks for your help, mawes12!

 

[MikeNewYork]

Both sentences contain relative clauses and they are both restrictive. I don't know why you think a predicate is missing in sentence 1. What do you think "caused his anger" is?

 

[mawes12]

From your point of view, it is an appositive phrase but not a clause. In this case, what is 'that' there?

I'm glad I helped. I heard "that" can also be a noun clause and an adverb clause but in the first sentence, I think "that" is a noun clause and an appositive phrase.

 

[MikeNewYork]

You need to state that you are not a teacher when you answer questions, If you continue to ignore that, your posts will be deleted. That said, I disagree with your analysis of this question.

 

[tkacka15]

I'm not a teacher.

The difference is: the "his answer that caused his anger" is a complement in the first sentence whereas the "that wrote the letter" is a modifier in the noun phrase "The girl that wrote the letter" which is the subject in the second one.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In the first, "that caused his anger" modifies "answer". In the second "that wrote the letter" modifies "girl". There is no difference.

 

[tkacka15]

Yes, I agree. What I wanted to stress is that the first relative clause is the part of the complement and the second one the part of the subject. They function in different syntax elements.

 

[mawes12]

You need to state that you are not a teacher when you answer questions, If you continue to ignore that, your posts will be deleted. That said, I disagree with your analysis of this question.

I already said I'm not a teacher and the first sentence can also say "that/what caused his anger was his answer." so I don't know why you're disagreeing or arguing and people agree with you without saying why.

 

[MikeNewYork]

You need to add "not a teacher" to every post that answers other people's questions. Writing it once per thread is not sufficient.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Tkacka: Fair enough. What I wanted to stress is that the relative clauses themselves are not affected by that.

 

[ronao]

Both sentences contain relative clauses and they are both restrictive. I don't know why you think a predicate is missing in sentence 1. What do you think "caused his anger" is?

I meant that in the answer that caused his angershould be followed by a predicate as in The girl that wrote the letter is upstairs.
I'm referring to the clause itself, not to the whole cleft sentence. If I say: His answer caused his anger, the structure is different. This is what sounds strange to me: his answer that caused his anger in isolation.

 

[ronao]

You need to state that you are not a teacher when you answer questions, If you continue to ignore that, your posts will be deleted. That said, I disagree with your analysis of this question.

Is this post sent to me?
I never answered questions, just asked them.

 

[MikeNewYork]

No. It was sent to mawes12.

 

[ronao]

Yes, I agree. What I wanted to stress is that the first relative clause is the part of the complement and the second one the part of the subject. They function in different syntax elements.

Yes, these different syntax elements have confused me!
Thank you.