Remember, kids: grammar is fun!

Remember, kids: grammar is fun!

I just googled what they are and... ew. Just ew. Every example on wikipedia made me cringe. I get that they can perhaps be useful in exceedingly long sentences, but still.

<Snipped quote by Halo>
2. I disagree with some things you said, I don't think they're necessarily meant to be useful, they're just naturally occurring compensations for sentency fuck ups.

<Snipped quote by Halo>

1. I agree 100%

2. I disagree with some things you said, I don't think they're necessarily meant to be useful, they're just naturally occurring compensations for sentency fuck ups.

Resumptive pronounce seem like total assholes with no valid use among good writers, and they should be banned.

<Snipped quote by scribz>

Not fuckups, just turning DPs (constituents with noun phrases in them) from embedded clauses into [+wh] feature phrases (which, who, etc) and moving them to successively higher CP spec positions to form questions.

The issue that arises is that english speakers hate having gaps left without pronouns, especially where agentive/experiential pronouns go. In romance languages they modify verbs to code for tense and specify who is performing the action, so pronouns are superfluous. Not so much in English.

So the problem is the English fixation on pronoun placement. Tho since we don't modify our verbs the same way it's understandable.

<Snipped quote by scribz>

Which can be useful so you don't have to start the whole sentence again, at least in speech. ^^

<Snipped quote by mdk>

These are the consolation points of grammar. Things you can technically do, but shouldn't. They might be allowed, but grammar was always the main focus of immature writers anyway. The big boys worry about syntax, and the syntax of sentences that use resumptive pronouns seems to be pretty goddamn awful.

The writer who uses resumptive pronounces, sounds like yoda does he.

Resumptive pronounce seem like total assholes with no valid use among good writers, and they should be banned.

<Snipped quote by Vilageidiotx>

Lolol good observation.

A lot of it is because of movement in syntax. Things get wonky.

But anything you can do in a language is grammatical. Like ending sentences with prepositions in english. The only things you "shouldn't" do are what constitute structural errors. Misusing "'s" is a structural error . you can get away with it if such errors are common ('could of'), but you risk leaving the grey zone of grammaticality and generating word-salad.

And grammaticality is just defined as whatever a native speaker would say. That gets subjective pretty quickly.

<Snipped quote by mdk>

I feel like my syntax prof would get a kick out of this. Apparently they've plagued him for 30+ years because he's been trying to figure them out.

<Snipped quote by Doivid>

Your syntax professor sounds like a pretty cool guy, although that's a really specific thing to be studying and I can't imagine there are many career moves out of that field, but still, he's alright in my book.

<Snipped quote by Doivid>

Your syntax professor sounds like a pretty cool guy, although that's a really specific thing to be studying and I can't imagine there are many career moves out of that field, but still, he's alright in my book.