James, whose brother you marry // married // are/were/get/got married to, won...

[z7655431]

a. James, whose brother you marry, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
b. James, whose brother you married, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
c. James, whose brother you are married to, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
d. James, whose brother you were married to, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
e. James, whose brother you get married to, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
f. James, whose brother you got married to, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
Are the six sentences all correct? Are there any differences between them? Which is the most common way to say such a sentence? Thanks!

 

[Jpking]

a. James, whose brother you marry, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
b. James, whose brother you married, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
c. James, whose brother you are married to, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
d. James, whose brother you were married to, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
e. James, whose brother you get married to, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
f. James, whose brother you got married to, won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games.
Are the six sentences all correct? Are there any differences between them? Which is the most common way to say such a sentence? Thanks!

Before the pros step him, here is my own little contribution.

I don't think a is correct, because the word 'marry' is an action word. It has happened in the past. The speaker didn't state when it happened because the listener was the one that was married to. So there's no need, else, verbosity will set in.

From what I said above, b is correct.

c is very correct. It's a present perfect which speaks of an action in the past that is still ongoing. Are married to...

d speaks of an action that has terminated. It's a past tense. It's no longer active. So grammatically, it's correct.

e isn't correct to the best of my knowledge. Get is acting like it mostly does, as an auxiliary verb here. Get married to is wrong in this context!

Therefore, f is correct. For example, it's odd to say, 'let's get gone.' It should be, ' let's get going.'


That's my say. Am not a teacher, am just a learner. Feel free to correct me.:up:

By the way, am James and am not married:lol:

 

[GoesStation]

B, C, D, and F are correct.

B and C mean the same thing: your husband is James's brother. They're both reasonably common ways to say this.

D means that your husband used to be married to James's brother. The brother died or you got divorced, so you're no longer married to him. This is also reasonably common.

F means that you married James's brother. It doesn't say whether you are still married to him. It sounds a little odd but it's not impossible that someone would say this.

All the correct sentences are a bit awkward, especially for spoken English. In every case, it would be more natural to phrase it following this model: James won an Olympic gold medal for swimming. You're married to his brother.

 

[z7655431]

All the correct sentences are a bit awkward, especially for spoken English. In every case, it would be more natural to phrase it following this model: James won an Olympic gold medal for swimming. You're married to his brother.

How about this? - "James, whose brother you are married to, won an Olympic gold medal for swimming."
I think the main part that makes all the sentences I gave a little awkward is "won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games". Am I right?

 

[GoesStation]

How about this? - "James, whose brother you are married to, won an Olympic gold medal for swimming."
I think the main part that makes all the sentences I gave a little awkward is "won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympic Games". Am I right?

The new sentence is better, but actually the part that feels awkward is "...whose brother you are married to." Even though it's a logical and acceptable way to state the idea, that phrasing is used less and less in written and especially in spoken AmE. Perhaps speakers feel that it separates thoughts too much.

I can imagine a conversation like this: James -- your husband's brother -- won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympics. Much as I dislike and avoid the style, I hear a rising intonation for the first two clauses, which you could write like this: James? -- your husband's brother? -- won a gold medal for swimming in the Olympics.

I don't want to make too much of my point here. Your sentence is perfectly good formal English. It's just a little too formal for everyday use.