Re: Relative pronoun?

At 12/18/00 11:41 PM -0800, you wrote:
>On Mon, 18 Dec 2000 23:28:58 -0800 Marcus Smith <smithma@...>
>writes:
> > At 12/19/00 05:16 PM +1100, you wrote:
> > >Um...just a simple question.
> > >
> > >Is the "what" in:
> > >
> > >"I know what to do"
> > >
> > >a relative pronoun?
> >
> > No, because the sentence does not contain a relative clause.
> >
>The phrase "what to do" functions as a direct object here,
>since it is the thing "I know".  Therefore, it is a noun phrase.
Functioning as a "direct object" does not necessarily make something a noun
phrase. In

"I didn't know that John was sick"

"that John was sick" is also acting as the direct object, but I don't think
it would be reasonable to call it a noun phrase -- not unless you define
"noun phrase" in such a way as to divorce the term from nouns altogether.




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Marcus Smith
AIM:  Anaakoot
"When you lose a language, it's like
dropping a bomb on a museum."
   -- Kenneth Hale
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