WH CLAUSES

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. WH-QUESTIONS

3. WH-NOMINAL CLAUSES

4. WH-CLAUSES AS DIRECT OBJECTS

5. WH-CLAUSES AS PREDICATE NOMINATIVES

6. WH-CLAUSES AS INDIRECT OBJECTS AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS

7. WH-CLAUSES AS SUBJECTS

8. POSTNOMINAL MODIFICATION

9. RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

10. NONRESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

INTRODUCTION

Clauses that include a wh-word are called wh-clauses. Wh-words can appear in main clauses

and in subordinate clauses.

Who is bringing Violetta’s icon to Athens?

Vince is bringing what to Athens?

Vince is bringing whose/which icon to Athens?

Vince is bringing Violetta’s icon where?

The preceding clauses are main wh-clauses. They contain wh-words such as who, what,

whose, which, where. These words can replace a constituent in a main clause, thus turning

the clause into a wh-question.

WH-QUESTIONS

Standard wh-questions resemble yes/no questions, both of them display subject-auxiliary

inversion.

What is Vince bringing to Athens?

Which/whose icon is Vince bringing to Athens?

Where is Vince bringing Violetta’s icon?

The wh-word is displaced from whatever position it had in the previous sentences to the

front of the sentence. This displacement of the wh-expression to the front of the sentence is

called wh-fronting.

When a wh-expression appears at the front of a clause it is represented as occupying the

same position as the complementiser that.

What is Vince bringing to Athens

(complementiser) (sentence)

Whose icon is Vince bringing to Athens

(complementiser) (sentence)

Wh-fronting does not result in a change of word-order.

The wh-expression not only serves to introduce the clause, it actually has a function in the

structure of the clause that it introduced. The wh-expression functions as an obligatory

element in the structure of the clause. If we ignore the wh complementiser, the sentence

itself is clearly seen to be incomplete:

Is Vince bringing to Athens?

(there is a direct object missing)

Is bringing Violetta’s icon to Athnes?

(there is a subject missing)

WH-NOMINAL CLAUSES

The same wh-forms that appear in information seeking questions also occur in nominal

clauses – who, what, which, where, when, why, how. (How is treated as a wh-word even

though it is spelled with an initial h). In such cases the wh-word is both a proform and a

subordinator. All subordinators are semantically empty. This is not true of wh-words

because they do have referents, even though those referents are not specified in the

sentence.

I know who Justine is dating. [Justine is dating someone.]

What he said shocked the reporters. [He said something.]

I saw what she did. [She did something.]

Wh clauses differ from interrogatives in that the operator in the wh-clause does not move.

The wh-word usually occurs first in the clause regardless of its function. In the following

sentence what is moved out of normal direct object position and appears at the beginning

of the clause.

I heard what Geoff said.

Wh-clauses can perform all the normal nominal functions. They can act as subjects, direct

objects, indirect objects, subject complements, object complements, and also as the objects

of many prepositions. Wh-words within nominal clauses take on a variety of functions –

subject, direct object, indirect object, object complement, subject complement, determiner,

adverb, and object of a preposition.

WH-CLAUSES AS DIRECT OBJECTS

Wh-clauses often function as direct objects. Like any other clause, the wh-clause has

internal structure.

Subject direct object

Samantha knows what Joyce is doing

d.o. subject

Steve knows where Ian is going

Adv. Subject

of place

I know what they christened the baby

Object subject d.o.

comp

I saw which kid took the candy

Determiner d.o.

WH-CLAUSES AS PREDICATE NOMINATIVES

When wh-clauses function as predicate nominatives, they occur in the same environments

that characterize infinitive and that clause predicate nominatives.

Wh-predicate nominative clauses

The issue is what she told her boss.

The problem is where we will put the visitors.

The question is why he told her at all.

WH-CLAUSES AS INDIRECT OBJECTS AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS

While that clauses, infinitive clauses, and ing clauses never function as indirect objects or

object complements, wh-clauses do. However, in the case of indirect object clauses, this

occurs only when the wh-word is nonspecific whoever and whichever and very occasionally

whatever. Who never appears in a wh-indirect object clause; I will give the silver dollar to

whoever gets the highest grades is fine but I will give the silver dollar to who gets the highest

grade is ungrammatical.

Wh-indirect object clauses

He gave whoever answered the door the subpoena.

I will offer my services to whoever I like.

I will tell whichever reporter arrives first my story.

Give the free lunch to whatever group needs it most.

The most common wh-forms in object complements are whoever and whatever, but what

can also occur in these structures. Wh-object complement clauses are somewhat unusual,

however.

Wh-object complement clauses

You may name the puppy whatever seems suitable.

Paint the room whatever color you like.

Wh-object complement clauses (cont.)

This makeup artist can make you whoever you want to be.

They named the baby what they were told to name her.

WH-CLAUSES AS SUBJECTS

Wh-clausal subjects occur in a very limited environment; they most often precede copulas

and verbs that communicate a psychological reaction – shock, bother, disturb, please, thrill,

elate. As with direct object clauses, the wh-word in a wh-subject clause can take on almost

any function.

Wh-subject clauses

Who gave me the report is confidential.

Who I loaned my car to is none of your business.

Who Mary’s admirer is remains a mystery.

What Louise said pleased me.

What this machine does is to stamp the packages.

Which house they sold isn’t relevant.

Why he screamed was a mystery.

How long we are staying is Gertrude’s decision.

Which suspect is guilty hasn’t been determined.

Whether she participates or not is immaterial.

Whatever he said shocked his parents.

Whoever told you this lied.

Sometimes wh-clause subjects are followed by infinitival predicative nominatives in which

the to is optional – What Sam did was [to] offend the boss; What this policy does is [to]

protect you form flood and fire.

Extraposition of WH-clauses Subject wh clauses can be extraposed fairly readily and many

sound better extraposed.

It’s none of your business who I loaned my car to.

It hasn’t been determined which suspect is guilty.

It is immaterial whatever she participates or not.

It isn’t clear when they left.

Direct object wh-clauses containing when are routinely extraposed, even though the

extraposed clause often follows the cataphoric it directly.

I hate it when my brother interrupts me.

I enjoy it when my students seem enthusiastic.

Mom doesn’t like it a bit when you whine.

Wh-clauses can on occasion function as complements of predicate adjectives – Doris wasn’t

certain who was coming to the party; I wasn’t sure whether Mabel would be there. More

often, however, a wh-clause functions as the object of the preposition in prepositional

phrase adjective complements. In the sentences in the following chart, the adjective

complement is a preposition phrase in which the object of the preposition is a wh-clause.

Wh-clauses in prepositional phrase adjective complements

Regina was afraid of what might happen to her house.

Ted was worried about who would feed the cats during the trip.

They were sorry about what their dog had done to my rug.

Evie is unhappy about who was chosen.

WH-CLAUSES AS SUBJECTS

English has a number of postnominal modifying constructions. One of the most common is

the relative clause. A relative clause is a wh-clause that always follows an NP; the relative

proform, always a wh-word or that, has the same referent as the preceding NP. In The guy

who borrowed your car isn’t reliable, who and the guy refer to the same individual. The

relative proform always has a grammatical function within the clause and at the same time

acts as a subordinator.

English contains two distinct types of relative clauses, each of which has a different effect on

the preceding NP.

RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSE

The primary job of a restrictive relative clause is to restrict the possible referents of the

preceding NP, thus making the referent more accessible to the header.

Give the man who is waiting at the door the package.

The repairperson who fixed your computer was totally incompetent.

The steak which you brought me is cold.

In a sentence like The kids who are playing on the doorstep are too noisy, the restrictive

relative clause tells us which kids are being referred to; it’s not the kids who are sitting in the

living room or the kids who are hiding in the attic; it’s the kids who are playing on the

doorstep.

Since restrictive relative clauses restrict the possible referents of the NP, such clauses do not

occur with proper nouns because proper nouns already have unique reference. In a

sentence like The John Doe who is in my statistics class is an idiot, John Doe is not technically

a proper noun. The presumption here is that there is more than one John Doe and the

relative clause restricts the reference to the one in my statistics class. Because of this

restricting function, restrictive relative clauses are usually used in cases in which the

preceding NP has more than one potential referent. If I know that a friend has two

daughters, I might say “The daughter who lives in Cleveland just finished medical school,

and the daughter who lives in Tucson is unemployed.”

Relative clauses can modify NPs in any position and the clause is embedded in the nominal

structure. In other words, if the clause modifies a direct object NP, then the relative clause is

part of the direct object.

Direct object

I don’t know the student who is standing in the back.

Restrictive relative clause

Like any other clause, a restrictive relative clause has internal structure and the wh-word

typically comes first in the clause, regardless of its grammatical function within the clause.

Restrictive relative clause

I really like the man who my sister is dating now

Restrictive relative clauses can modify indefinite pronouns:

I don’t know anyone who can fix this.

This is somebody who has a grudge.

Anybody who would do that is a creep.

They can also modify personal pronouns, but only when the pronouns are used as

indefinites – He who dies with the most toys wins. Indefinite personal pronouns are fairly

rare in Modern English. On rare occasions you is used with a restrictive relative clause, as in

You who’s holding up the line, move along.

The proform whom is required when the relative pronoun functions as an object (including

object of a preposition), even highly educated speakers of English use who in all positions in

conversation - I know the woman who you offered that job to; I met the guy who you had

that big fight with.

Where, when and why can also be used as relative proforms in very limited circumstances.

Where must follow an NP that indicates a place, when must follow an NP that indicates

time, and why typically follows the NP the reason.

The town where I was born no longer exists.

Do you remember the time when we danced until dawn.

She won’t tell me the reason why she did it.

The indefinite wh-proforms (whoever, whatever, wherever, etc) do not occur as relative

pronouns.

Inanimate whose endures in speech and sentences like these can be heard My doctor gave

me some pills whose side-effects were terrible or That’s the school whose roof blew off in

Hurricane Andrew.

Restrictive relative clauses Function of italicized or covert proform

I need someone who can fix this. Subject

The names which Sherry called Bobby were shocked. Object complement

The place where my sister lives is rundown. Adverb of place

The woman on whose porch you are sitting is my aunt. Genitive determiner

The house in which I grew up has been razed. Object of preposition (PP

functioning as adverb of place)

NON-RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

Non-restrictive relative clauses perform a very different function from restrictive relative

clauses; they simply provide additional information about the NP and are never crucial in

identifying the referent(s). While non-restrictive relative clauses are subordinate clauses,

i.e., they can’t stand alone, they are not embedded within the NP. Unlike restrictive clauses,

they can co-occur with proper nouns and they don’t co-occur with indefinite pronouns. The

fact that non-restrictive clauses provide additional information and are not embedded is

underscored by the pauses that surround these clauses in discourse, these pauses are

reflected by commas in written texts.

Jerry Seinfeld, who is a stand-up comedian, had his own t.v. show.

My oldest sister, who is an accountant in New York, handles my taxes.

George is visiting Cecilia, who is living in Spain.

Absalom, Absalom, which Faulkner published in 1936, was his most difficult novel.

Although the material provided by non-restrictive relative clauses is “additional”, it is not

superfluous or irrelevant. Sometimes a non-restrictive clause will provide very important

information as in These batteries, which should be changed monthly, will ensure that your

smoke detector can be heard all over the house.

Unlike restrictive relative clauses, non-restrictive relative clauses can refer back to

structures other than NPs. Because the referents of these clauses are structures rather than

people, the relative proform is always which.

Diana loves that purple dinosaur, [refers to preceding predicate]

which many kids do.

Today is Sunday, which means I can sleep in. [refers to entire sentence]

Aaron lied to his parents, which really bothered them.[refers to entire sentence]

When a non-restrictive structure is an NP rather than a clause, it is usually called an

appositive. Like non-restrictive relative clauses, appositives refer to same entity as the NP

they follow.

Non-restrictive relative clause Appositive

My daughter, who is a surgeon in Texas, has been My daughter, a surgeon in Texas

awarded a big grant. has been awarded a big grant.

Dr. Keller, who is a well-known chemist, made an Dr. Keller, a well-known chemist,

amazing discovery. made an amazing discovery.

Ward, which is an old counter-culture community, Ward, an old counter-culture

is fascinating. community, is fascinating.

References:

Berk , Lynn M. English Syntax, From Word to Discourse, New York: Oxford Oxford University Press

1999

Burton-Roberts, Noel Analysing Senteces , An Introduction to English Syntax, New York: Longman

Longman Group Limited 1986