Relative clause 問題

第一句：
David Beckham is a famous soccer player who plays the midfield position.
是正確的。
[who plays the midfield posiiton] 是個 defining relative clause, 去 提供重要資料，令到整個句子能傳達到主要的迅息，就是： David Bechham plays the midfield position。通常 defining relative clause 是沒有 comma 隔開的。

第二句：
David Beckham is a famous soccer player, who plays the midfield position.
我覺得是不正確的。[who plays the midfield position], 既不是
修飾 soccer player, 也不是修飾 David Beckham。

如果要做一個 non-defining relative clause 的句子，可以寫成： David Beckham, who is a famous soccer player, plays the midfield position.
[who is a famous soccer player] 在這句中不是主要的迅息。主句 David Beckham plays the midfield position 己經傳達了主要的迅息。 所以 [who is a famous soccer player] 是 non-defining relative clause, 而 non-defining relative clause 通常是由 comma 隔開的。

2009-04-21 11:34:55 補充：
Supplementary (part 1 of 3)
Now that I have read the five opinion presented by eicachan, which I fully agree, I understand how we could utilize relative clauses to control what we want the main theme of a sentence to be.

2009-04-21 11:41:05 補充：
( 2 of 3)
(A) if we assume everybody knows Beckham is a famous soccer player, then [he plays the midfield position] becomes the essential information.
examples presented in the main body above.

2009-04-21 11:42:35 補充：
(3 of 4)
(B) if we assume most readers do not know Beckham, then [he is a famous soccer player] becomes the essential information, and [he plays the midfield position] becomes secondary.

2009-04-21 11:43:30 補充：
(4 of 4)
The supporting sentence structure for (B) will be:
1) Defining: David Beckham who is a famous soccer player, plays the midfield position.
2) non-defining: David Beckham, who plays the midfield position, is a famous soccer player.

If your main idea is "He is a famous soccer player", the second one is correct.
Even u cancel who plays the midfield position, others con understand ur meaning.

1.David Beckham is a famous soccer player. <<< Main Idea
2.David Beckham / He plays the midfield position. <<< Additional Information



However, soccer player is a general term.
U can't use it to substitute the subject like "a famous soccer player".
Let's seperate the first sentance:

1.David Beckham is a famous soccer player.
2.The famous soccer player plays the midfield position. <<< U'd know others don't realise who is "The famous soccer player", if we only look at this sentence.

Therefore the first one is incorrect.

2009-04-21 11:43:03 補充：
Defining & Non-defining


1.David Beckham is a famous soccer player.
2.David Beckham / He plays the midfield position.

2009-04-21 11:43:12 補充：
Defining
eg. David Beckham who is a famous soccer player plays the midfield position.

As there're many kinds of midfield position, not specific for soccer.
It means "soccer player" is important to define who David Beckham is and what does he do.

2009-04-21 11:43:39 補充：
Non-defining
eg. David Beckham, who plays the midfield position, is a famous soccer player.

As before, because people can understand the meaning of "David Beckham is a famous soccer player." Even u cancel "who plays the midfield position", the meaning is also completed.

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(1) is correct with 'who plays the midfield position' being a relative clause defining and giving essential information about 'soccer player'.

2009-04-21 05:59:53 補充：
(2) is better re-written as 'David Beckham, who plays the midfield position, is a famous soccer player.'
Here, 'who plays the midfield position' is non-defining. It only gives extra but not essential information about David Beckham.

2009-04-21 06:09:13 補充：
However, there may be many David Beckhams who play soccer in various positions. Then in the sentence 'David Beckham is a famous soccer player who plays the midfield position', 'who plays the midfield position' becomes a relative clause defining 'Beckham' instead.

2009-04-21 06:10:11 補充：
References:A non-defining relative clause gives extra information about a noun or noun phrase and has commas at both ends.(http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/non-defining-relative-clause.html)

2009-04-21 06:12:18 補充：
A defining relative clause gives 'essential information' about the noun or noun phrase it modifies, without which the sentence 'wouldn't make sense'... .(http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/defining-relative-clause.html)