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Re: Relative pronoun?

From:Marcus Smith <smithma@...>
Date:Tuesday, December 19, 2000, 16:11
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. =============================== Marcus Smith AIM: Anaakoot "When you lose a language, it's like dropping a bomb on a museum." -- Kenneth Hale ===============================