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Is the series of object clauses used correctly in the following sentence?

English Language & Usage Asked on September 28, 2021

She then told them she was 52, living alone, and had no doubt there was something very malicious and dangerous in her house, and that she dared not go back inside.

How many object clauses are there? Two or four? Do they all need to be preceded by "that"?

One Answer

She then told them

1 she

1' was

1'' 52,

1'' living alone,

1' (and) had no doubt there was something very malicious and dangerous in her house,

1 (and) that she dared not go back inside.

The grammar is just fine, (1 she) could also be preceded by that. The second that marking dependent clause she dared not go back inside seems necessary to mark the fact that it is not part of the noun phrase headed by doubt, though even with it, it is technically ambiguous whether we are meant to understand that:

she had no doubt that she dared not go back inside

OR

She then told them that she dared not go back inside

Assuming the latter, there is a coordination at the (1), (1') and (1'') level. The (1'') level coordination is not marked.

If we take object clauses to be clauses allowed by other verbs, and take clauses generally to be constructions headed by a single verb, the object clauses are:

  1. Headed by was, allowed by told, subject (1 she) by coordination

was 52, living alone

  1. Headed by had, allowed by told, subject (1 she) by coordination

(and) had no doubt there was something very malicious and dangerous in the house

  1. Headed by dared, allowed by told

(and) that she dared not go back inside

  1. Headed by living, allowed by was, understood subject (1 she)

living alone

  1. Headed by go allowed by dared, understood subject (she - subject of dared)

go back inside

There is one additional clause in the sentence:

  1. Headed by was, dependent in noun phrase headed by doubt

there was something very malicious in her house

Answered by DW256 on September 28, 2021

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