relative clauses

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aysaa

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Hi,

-I want to go somewhere where nobody knows me.

-I want to go somewhere nobody knows me at/in.

-I want to go somewhere nobody knows me.

I would like to ask which one is fine.

Thanks...
 

SirGod

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The first and the last one are fine. I'd go for the last one, though.
 

aysaa

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How about this?

-I want to go somewhere in / at which nobody knows me.
 

SirGod

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How about this?

-I want to go somewhere in / at which nobody knows me.

* Not a teacher

I noticed it in your first post. It doesn't work, at least, in my opinion.
 

hoangkha

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Hi,

-I want to go somewhere where nobody knows me.

-I want to go somewhere nobody knows me at/in.

-I want to go somewhere nobody knows me.(correct)

I would like to ask which one is fine.

Thanks...
In the above sentences somewhere is an adverb, so where or at/in which isn't needed.(IMO)
 
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TheParser

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-I want to go somewhere in / at which nobody knows me.


***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) May I add my comments to SirGod's and Hoangkha's excellent posts?

(2) I think that "I went somewhere in which nobody knew me" is "correct" English, grammatically speaking.

(a) "somewhere" = to some place.

(b) "where" = in/at which.

THUS: I went to some place in which nobody knew me.

(3) HOWEVER (as my two fellow members pointed out), your sentence is NOT idiomatic. That is, native speakers usually

do not speak that way (unless they are trying to analyze a sentence). Native speakers have the word "where," so there is

no need to use "in which." Since native speakers almost never speak that way, "in which" becomes "strange-sounding."

(4) THEREFORE, I think that there are three "correct" ways to express your thought:

(a) I went somewhere where nobody knew me.

(b) I went somewhere nobody knew me.

(c) I went where nobody knew me.

(Maybe sentences (b) and (c) can be analyzed as shorter ways to say sentence (a) ).
 

aysaa

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So many thanks Parser... I think the only strange choice in there is '
I want to go somewhere (which)nobody knows me in.' Is that right? or Is that also fine?
 

bhaisahab

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So many thanks Parser... I think the only strange choice in there is '
I want to go somewhere (which)nobody knows me in.' Is that right? or Is that also fine?

It's not correct.
 

TheParser

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Aysaa,

I thought that you would like this information from the very reliable Longman English Grammar by Mr. L.G. Alexander (1988 edition, page 22):

This is the place in which I grew up.
This is the place which I grew up in.
This is the place I grew up in,
This is the place where I grew up.
This is where I grew up.
 

TheParser

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I think the only strange choice in there is '
I want to go somewhere (which)nobody knows me in.' Is that right? or Is that also fine?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Aysaa,

I have exciting news.

(1) I have been able to communicate with two grammar experts on the Web. If I understood them correctly, a sentence such

as "I went to a place which nobody knew me in" is grammatically "correct," even though native speakers would almost

never produce such a sentence.

(2) If "I went to a place which nobody knew me in" is -- grammatically speaking -- OK, why is "I went somewhere which

nobody knew me in" NOT OK? I DO NOT KNOW.

(a) My guess is this: ""place" is a noun, so it is OK to put the preposition at the end; "somewhere" is an adverb, so it is not OK.
 
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