Usage Note
The usage note on page 150 mentioned that most people use the relative pro-
nounswhichandthatinterchangeably. Although these words are very similar, they
are not exactly the same:Whichgenerally is used in nonrestrictive relative clauses,
whereasthatis used in restrictive ones. There is another difference, however, as
sentence 14a illustrates—whichcan function as the object of a preposition, butthat
cannot. As noted, T-G grammar suggests that there is an intermediate step that lies
between sentences 14 and 14a, in which the underlying form is:
- Fred loved the house/the couple lived in which
Nevertheless, common usage treatswhichandthatas being the same, with
one result being that we observe people using sentence 14b more often than 14a:
14b. ?Fred loved the house that the couple lived in.Even though this sentence is quite common, close analysis suggests that it
may violate the rules of the grammar. Sentence 14b would have the following
as an intermediate underlying form:
- Fred loved the house/the couple lived in that
Now notice what happens if we shift the entire prepositional phrase to the
front of the relative clause:
- *Fred loved the house in that the couple lived.
Other Relative Pronouns
Perhaps even more interesting than sentences with relativization in a preposi-
tional phrase are sentences like 15:
- They drove to Big Sur,where the sea otters play.
The deep structure of this sentence would have to be something along the
lines of 15a:
15a. they drove to Big Sur/the sea otters play at Big SurWe can duplicateBig Surin both clauses, but we cannot duplicate the
prepositional phrase that governs this NP. It is possible to suggest that the
prepositionatis not necessary in the deep structure, that we can substitute a
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