Abriged noun clause

[angel-girl1]

Hi,


I don't know where to live.

This is an abriged version of the noun clause.

Could you please give the version without abridgement?

Thanks.

 

[BobK]

I don't know where to choose as a place of residence.

b

PS If this is homework, shame on you;-) - but I'm not particularly worried about having helped, as I expect your teacher isn't looking for so much embroidery! (The thing about abridgment is that you miss stuff out, and what you miss out could be almost anything.)

 

[angel-girl1]

I don't know where to choose as a place of residence.

b

PS If this is homework, shame on you;-) - but I'm not particularly worried about having helped, as I expect your teacher isn't looking for so much embroidery! (The thing about abridgment is that you miss stuff out, and what you miss out could be almost anything.)

Thanks a lot.
I'm trying to understand abridgement in noun clauses.

I don't know where to choose as a place of residence.
I think this sentence also contains an abridged noun clause since the noun clause uses the infinitive and it doesn't contain its own subject.
Correct me please.

 

[BobK]

You seem to referring to a syntactic construct ('an abridged noun clause') that I haven't met before. I'd better leave it to other teachers.

b

 

[emsr2d2]

I readily admit that I'm having trouble seeing "I don't know where to live" as an abridgement of anything. It appears to contain all relevant and appropriate information.

 

[angel-girl1]

I readily admit that I'm having trouble seeing "I don't know where to live" as an abridgement of anything. It appears to contain all relevant and appropriate information.

I think that "I don't know where to live" is an abridged noun clause derived from an interrogative sentence. The agent of the abridged noun clause is the subject of the main verb.

"He offered me where to live." The agent of the abridged noun clause is the object of the main clause.

We need somebody who is familiar with such rules.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think that "I don't know where to live" is an abridged noun clause derived from an interrogative sentence. The agent of the abridged noun clause is the subject of the main verb.

"He offered me where to live." The agent of the abridged noun clause is the object of the main clause.

We need somebody who is familiar with such rules.

You're right. We need somebody who understands it! I've just read three web pages on it and I'm none the wiser.

I can tell you one thing though - "He offered me where to live" is not a correct English sentence. Did you mean "He offered me somewhere to live"? Or possibly "He offered me a place to live"?

 

[angel-girl1]

Did you mean "He offered me somewhere to live"? Or possibly "He offered me a place to live"?

Yes, this is what I meant.
Another example: He told me when to go.

 

[BobK]

...

I can tell you one thing though - "He offered me where to live" is not a correct English sentence. Did you mean "He offered me somewhere to live"? Or possibly "He offered me a place to live"?

I suspect angel-girl1's mother tongue allows this sort of use of a question-word as the the subject or object of another clause. The example that springs to mind is Portuguese: O dinheiro de quem não dá é o trabalho de quêm não têm - 'The money of him who doesn't give is the work of him who doesn't have [anything].'

b