Error No.: 4
Error: Resumptive pronouns
Some common examples
With an explicit relative pronoun
1. *She is the teacher that she changes my life.
2. *There is one thing that I can remember it clearly.
3. *A complement is an obligatory element which the verb cannot be complete without it.
Without an explicit relative pronoun
4. *There is one thing I can remember it clearly.
5. *A complement is an obligatory element the verb cannot be complete without it.
Core grammatical problem
The relative pronoun in a complex sentence is unnecessarily repeated by a following
pronoun:
e.g. *There is one thing that I can remember it clearly.
The relative pronoun that is unnecessarily repeated by the pronoun it.
Probable causes of this structural problem
L1-related factor:
Unlikely to be the result of L1 interference because relative pronouns are not required for
constructing relative clauses in Chinese.
L2-related factors:
1.
Lack of awareness of the correct usage and function of relative pronouns.
2.
Lax Monitoring (a performance factor): This anomaly occurs often when the relative
pronoun functions as the object/prepositional object of a clause (especially a long one).
The writer may have forgotten the presence of the relative pronoun by the time he/she
reaches the original position of the object/prepositional object.
Correction procedure
To correct erroneous sentences like examples (1) to (3) above with explicit relative pronouns,
teacher (T) can go through the following procedure with students (Ss):
1. Ss underline the relative pronoun and circle the pronoun that appears in the rest of the
sentence.
e.g. There is one thing that I can remember it clearly.
2. Ss identify what the two pronouns refer to.
3. When Ss become aware that the two pronouns refer to the same thing/person (e.g. one
thing in the above sentence), T tells Ss that the second pronoun is
unnecessary/redundant.
4. Ss correct the erroneous sentence by crossing out the second pronoun.
i.e. There is one thing that I can remember clearly.
To correct erroneous sentences like examples (4) and (5) above without an explicit relative
pronoun, teacher (T) can go through the following procedure with students (Ss):
1. Ss underline the pronoun in the post-modifying clause.
e.g. There is one thing I can remember it clearly.
2. Ss identify what the pronoun refers to.
3. Ss replace the pronoun with the noun phrase it refers to.
e.g. There is one thing I can remember one thing clearly.
4. Ss rewrite the complex sentence into two simple ones by separating the post-modifying
clause from the head noun.
e.g. There is one thing. I can remember one thing clearly.
5. T introduces the use of relative pronouns in a complex sentence.
6. Ss combine the pair of sentences using a suitable relative pronoun and cross out the
redundant element in the sentence (i.e. the repeated noun phrase)
e.g. There is one thing which I can remember one thing clearly.
There is one thing which I can remember clearly.
Follow-up exercise
Correct the following sentences.
1. Mary found the dress which her aunt wore it yesterday.
2. The men removed all the chairs they had cleaned them before.
3. He is the man who he was on duty yesterday.
4. John took out the book which he wrote his notes on it.