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Can a head noun be in a subordinate clause or an adverbial phrase of a relative clause?

English Language Learners Asked on November 29, 2020

It is kind of uncommon for me to see a head noun belong to a subordinate clause or phrase of a relative clause. I don’t know if the usage is wrong or correct.

So, are the examples below grammatically correct? These examples are restrictive relative clauses I came up with (I don’t know whether they are correct or not).

(1) This is a car which I sold my old stuff in order to buy.

(2) Knowledge which I solved this problem with was learned in school.

(3) The technology which I sent this file via is called email.

One Answer

They are all wrong.

This is a car which that I sold my old stuff for in order to buy.

This requires the preposition "for" to indicate the purpose. You sold the stuff to buy the car.

I have corrected your use of 'which' to 'that' because you should only use 'which' in this way to introduce a non-restrictive clause. You have the same issue with your other two sentences:

The knowledge which that I solved this problem with was learned in school.

The technology which that I sent this file via is called email.

Answered by Astralbee on November 29, 2020

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