[Grammar] There are many units by which to measure the impact of climate change.
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wotcha
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I'd never heard of that use of metrics, Barb, but I looked it up and saw that it might be a possibility.
I'm not sure many people would understand it, though.
Rover
wotcha
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There are many units by which to measure the impact of climate change. -> by which???
There are many units by which to measure the impact of climate change
I wonder why we need 'by which' in the above sentence.
I understand the sentence as 'There are many units to measure the impact of climate change'.
Is 'by which' a 'preposition + relative pronoun' in the sentence?
If then what is the precedence of which?
Please help.
There are many units by which to measure the impact of climate change
I wonder why we need 'by which' in the above sentence.
I understand the sentence as 'There are many units to measure the impact of climate change'.
Is 'by which' a 'preposition + relative pronoun' in the sentence?
If then what is the precedence of which?
Please help.
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Chicken Sandwich
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Re: There are many units by which to measure the impact of climate change. -> by whic
NOT A TEACHER
The most important thing is that you understand it correctly. I don't know if I can explain it well, but "which" refers back to "units". "By" is used because you measure something by something. Education shouldn't be measured purely by examination results. (Source: Longman).
NOT A TEACHER
The most important thing is that you understand it correctly. I don't know if I can explain it well, but "which" refers back to "units". "By" is used because you measure something by something. Education shouldn't be measured purely by examination results. (Source: Longman).
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I agree that some other word should be chosen. "Units" when used with "measure" seems to refer to the units of measure (e.g. inches, millimeters, furlongs).
wotcha
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Re: There are many units by which to measure the impact of climate change. -> by whic
Now I can get this sentence.
'Many units are there to measure the impact of climate change by which ( = by many units) '
I've learned and taught relative pronoun always comes before a clause, so I was pretty much confused
when I first came across the sentence. As Gillnetter said, however, I might understand it
as a new pattern of composition.
Now I can get this sentence.
'Many units are there to measure the impact of climate change by which ( = by many units) '
I've learned and taught relative pronoun always comes before a clause, so I was pretty much confused
when I first came across the sentence. As Gillnetter said, however, I might understand it
as a new pattern of composition.
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