Improve_Your_Punctuation.PDF

(Steven Felgate) #1
Main clause: The house... was now occupied.
Subordinate clause: (The house) had been empty for
years

The boy, whose trainers had been stolen, won the race.

Main clause: The boy... won the race.
Subordinate clause:... trainers had been stolen

The golfer, whom I supported, played very well.

Main clause: The golfer... played very well.
Subordinate clause:... I supported

The relative pronoun usually follows the noun to which it
refers. This will avoid ambiguity. Make sure your writing
is clear and that you have said what you mean. If your
sentences are too long, it is easy for your reader to lose the
sense of what you are saying.


Using whom
‘Whom’ can sometimes be preceded by a preposition. There
is a tendency today to ignore the traditional rule, ‘Don’t end
a sentence with a preposition.’ Prepositions are often found
at the end of sentences today. However, those who wish to
preserve the purity of the English language will probably
keep the rule.


This is the boyto whom I gave the money.

The preposition, ‘to’ precedes ‘whom’. The colloquial form
would be:


44 / IMPROVE YOUR PUNCTUATION & GRAMMAR

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