Phaedrus
Banned
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2012
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
Greetings,
It is well received that if one wishes to make a wh-question focused on the underlined element in a sentence like
(a1) John said that Jack likes Jill.
one can do so whether one includes that or not
(a2) Who(m) did John say (that) Jack likes?
whereas if one wishes to make a wh-question focused on the subject of the same clause
(b1) John said that Jack likes Jill.
one cannot do so grammatically unless one deletes that:
(b2) Who did John say (*[strike]that[/strike]) likes Jill?
My interest here is in the forming of wh-questions relating to subject and object in a different kind of embedded that-clause:
(c1) John finds it amusing that Jack likes Jill.
(d1) John thinks it is amusing that Jack likes Jill.
If you had to rate the following sentences, would you choose (1) grammatical, (2) borderline, or (3) ungrammatical?
(c2) Who(m) does John find it amusing that Jack likes?
(c3) Who does John find it amusing that likes Jill?
(d2) Who(m) does John think it is amusing that Jack likes?
(d3) Who does John think it is amusing that likes Jill?
If you find any of them borderline or ungrammatical, and I can't deny that I hope you do, would it make a difference if that were omitted? Can it be?
Thank you!
It is well received that if one wishes to make a wh-question focused on the underlined element in a sentence like
(a1) John said that Jack likes Jill.
one can do so whether one includes that or not
(a2) Who(m) did John say (that) Jack likes?
whereas if one wishes to make a wh-question focused on the subject of the same clause
(b1) John said that Jack likes Jill.
one cannot do so grammatically unless one deletes that:
(b2) Who did John say (*[strike]that[/strike]) likes Jill?
My interest here is in the forming of wh-questions relating to subject and object in a different kind of embedded that-clause:
(c1) John finds it amusing that Jack likes Jill.
(d1) John thinks it is amusing that Jack likes Jill.
If you had to rate the following sentences, would you choose (1) grammatical, (2) borderline, or (3) ungrammatical?
(c2) Who(m) does John find it amusing that Jack likes?
(c3) Who does John find it amusing that likes Jill?
(d2) Who(m) does John think it is amusing that Jack likes?
(d3) Who does John think it is amusing that likes Jill?
If you find any of them borderline or ungrammatical, and I can't deny that I hope you do, would it make a difference if that were omitted? Can it be?
Thank you!