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Nao
What do native English speakers think of those two sentences?
1.“Kyoto which has many temples is a nice city”
2.“Kyoto is a nice city which has many temples.”
No.1 sentence is wrong in the Japanese English grammer lessons, but I don't know why. I feel the subject is too long though. I appreciate your thoughts!
Feb 2, 2024 11:23 PM
Answers · 6
5
Sentence 1 is basically correct, although it needs commas to isolate the non-restrictive clause "which has many temples."
Kyoto, which has many temples, is a nice city.
As a matter of style, sentence 2 is generally preferable because new and heavy information usually goes at the end of the sentence.
Here is an example:
Example 1:
[The direct and indirect objects are equally heavy. There is no preference for either version.]
I gave [a present[ [to my mother].
I gave [my mother] [a present].
Example 2:
[The direct and indirect objects are not equally heavy. The heavy direct object is preferred at the end.]
I gave [an elegant black leather coat made in Italy] [to my mother].
I gave [my mother] [an elegant black leather coat made in Italy]. << preferred
If you want more information, do a net search for "Definition and Examples of End Weight in Grammar." The article on the thoughtco dot com web site is meant for a general audience.
February 3, 2024
I agree with Chris. In #1, "which has many temples" is a parenthetical clause. That means that if you wanted, you could put it in parentheses:
“Kyoto (which has many temples) is a nice city”
The core of the sentence works very nicely without it:
“Kyoto is a nice city”.
Another way to handle #1 is to turn the parenthetical clause into an adjectival phrase to modify the subject of the sentence:
“Having many temples, Kyoto is a nice city.”
(The difference between a clause and a phrase is that a clause has a subject and a verb, whereas a phrase does not.)
February 3, 2024
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Nao
Language Skills
English, Japanese
Learning Language
English, Japanese
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