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Two clauses /one sentence
Message from a_limon posted on 12-07-2012 at 17:18:34
Hello!
Could you tell me please whether two clauses in one sentence can be the direct question?and the declarative sentence written separating only by comma.
For example.
Could I come in or I must stay near the door an eternity?
Or two parts(two clauses) of the sentence must have the same sign?
Thank you in advance.
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Edited by lucile83 on 12-07-2012 17:33
sign
it's not very clear.
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Edited by lucile83 on 14-07-2012 08:54
Message from a_limon posted on 12-07-2012 at 17:18:34
Hello!
Could you tell me please whether two clauses in one sentence can be the direct question?
For example.
Could I come in or I must stay near the door an eternity?
Or two parts(two clauses) of the sentence must have the same sign?
Thank you in advance.
-------------------
Edited by lucile83 on 12-07-2012 17:33
sign
it's not very clear.-------------------
Edited by lucile83 on 14-07-2012 08:54
Re: Two clauses /one sentence by a_limon, posted on 12-07-2012 at 18:13:34
Hello,
Another example then.
She killed him, but what could she do?
(I mean the compound sentence with two main clauses,not the composed sentence with the main and the subordinate clauses.)
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Edited by lucile83 on 12-07-2012 18:20
Re: Two clauses /one sentence by gerondif, posted on 12-07-2012 at 19:02:37
Hello,
Can I come in or do I have (inversion, please) to wait at the door endlessly ?
(could is awkward beccause you use a conditional wheras you know exactly what you want, to come in, and you are angry, so, could is too polite.
It doesn't really matter what sort of sentence you use, "or" would be fine.
Re: Two clauses /one sentence by a_limon, posted on 12-07-2012 at 19:37:21
Hello.
But what about the sentence "She killed him, but what could she do?",consisting of the declarative part "She killed him," and the question "but what could she do"?
Is it possible in grammar?
Re: Two clauses /one sentence by gerondif, posted on 13-07-2012 at 07:49:25
She killed him, but what else could she have done ? is correct.
I of course prefer:
He killed her, but what else could he do ? She was making too many grammar mistakes !
Re: Two clauses /one sentence by a_limon, posted on 13-07-2012 at 16:37:30
Hello,gerondif! I appreciate your humour. (Oh, woe is me!)
...But jokes apart...She killed him, but what else could she have done ? is correct.
So, we can have the sentence with two different intonational parts in English Grammar?
This sentence could be written as one.."What else could she have done if not to kill him."May be that is why it is possible to combine two intonations in one sentence? What do you feel about it?
Re: Two clauses /one sentence by gerondif, posted on 13-07-2012 at 19:38:14
Hello,
I don't understand your question.
What else could she have done except killing him?
There was nothing else she could do except kill him.
There was nothing else she could do but kill him.
Re: Two clauses /one sentence by a_limon, posted on 13-07-2012 at 20:15:50
Hello,
Gerondif,what question do you not understand?Is it this--->
So, we can have the sentence with two different intonational parts in English Grammar?
I mean this sentence "She killed him, but what else could she have done?" One couldn't name this sentence the direct question,could one? Two parts are independent of each other,aren't they? So,what kind of type is this sentence?
Re: Two clauses /one sentence by gerondif, posted on 14-07-2012 at 07:45:30
Hello,
for me intonation has to do with the voice, so I don't know what you mean.
What else could she do/ have done? is a direct question because:
a) there is an inversion: could she
b) there is a question mark.
A question in the indirect speech would be:
I wonder what she could have done in this situation. No inversion, no question mark.
Do you know what she could have done ? indirect question, the question mark applies to the main sentence, the first one.
