to which we do not yet have the answer

[Maybo]

"That's a really critical question to which we do not yet have the answer," said Prof Chris Whitty.

(Indian Covid variant: How much faster does it spread? by James Gallagher)

I'm curious about the use of "preposition + which" in a speech. When native speakers use this kind of structure, how do they think so quickly which preposition to use before they say the last word? For example, they haven't said "the answer" but they already know they need use "to". Is it just because they speak a lot of time so they think so quickly?

 

[probus]

Admittedly I am speculating here, but I think that native speakers of any language rarely have to think about which word to use. When we are writing we have the luxury of time and can elect to spend that time choosing the very best word, but speech must move rapidly so we must generally just go with our gut.

 

[5jj]

"That's a really critical question to which we do not yet have the answer,"

That's the sort of sentence that would be more like to appear in writing than in normal conversation. In speech, we'd be more likely to say "That's a really critical question (that) we don't yet have the answer to". The less planned structure of this sends the preposition to the end.

 

[jutfrank]

Native speakers have a 'competence' of their language that is unconscious. They don't have to 'think quickly' about which prepositions to use. In fact, you could say they don't have to think at all because the language is 'encoded' deeply in their minds, often in the form of patterns, such as:

an answer to a question

In the sentence in the OP, although the speaker has not yet said the word answer at the point at which he says to, he knows in advance what he's going to say. He already has the structure an answer to a question in his mind. This is precisely what is meant by the idea of 'competence', as defined in linguistics.

 

[probus]

I think I've told this story before but here it is again. Long ago I went to Copenhagen with my Danish girlfriend to visit her parents. Her mother jabbered away happily in English, making several mistakes in almost every sentence. Her father, on the other hand, took a long pause before every utterance, but when they finally came out they were perfect. Surprisingly, perhaps, I much preferred conversing with the mother, despite the frequent need to guess at what she meant. Conversation with the father was almost intolerable.

 

[rajan]

I also faced such type of problem. I learnt the following from a grammar book.

Break your sentence in the following way.

1) That's a really critical question. 2) We do not yet have the answer to a really critical question.

Repeating the phrase "a really critical question looks awkward" in second sentence. Therefore replace that phrase with "which" combining with first sentence.

We can rewrite the sentence now - That's a really critical question to which we do not yet have the answer.


Please note that I am not a teacher. I am also not an expert in English.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . When native speakers use this kind of structure, how do they think so quickly which preposition to use . . . ?

We don't.

Do you think about rules of grammar when you speak Chinese? Of course not. You just talk. So do we.