Question #1055

diagramming the sentence with two-"whos"

Started by Mazen · started 2020-02-19 22:28 · last activity 2020-02-20 23:13 · 2 replies

Hello, My question is regarding diagramming the following sentence: "People WHO have never been asked to do more than they can easily do [~~PADM] are people WHO never do all they can [~~PAC]." I understand that "who" introduces the sufficient condition, and this is precisely my confusion. Why is diagrammed as one way, rather than reciprocally. Since we have two "whos," shouldn't we diagrammed the sentence similarly to "if and only if" or "if but only if"? ~~PADM<------>~~PAC AM I missing a differential nuance in meaning between "People who have never been asked to do more than they can easily do are people who never do all they can" AND if I were to rewrite it as "People who never do all they can are people who have never been asked to do more than they can do easily" ??? Is there a meaningful difference between these two sentences? Thank you

Replies

  1. SamA · 2020-02-20 20:58

    Hello @Mazen, This is an unusual example of double "whos" in one sentence. The guideline that you mentioned will almost always apply, meaning that "who" will introduce the sufficient condition. In this case, let's pay attention to the sentence structure and the verb "are." I'll give you an example where this logic might be a little more clear. Dentists are doctors. Dentist - - - - - > Doctor Who is the verb "are" attributed to? Dentists. This is how I could tell that "dentist" or "~~PADM" is the sufficient condition. We cannot conclude that all doctors are dentists. Doctor - - - - - > Dentist is not correct. There could be plenty of other types of doctors. Adding "whos" to the sentence does not change this meaning. "People who are dentists are people who are doctors." This wording sounds ridiculous, but the meaning has not changed. Dentist - - - - > Doctors It is great that you have studied your sufficient and necessary indicators. They will not lead you astray. But make sure you are prepared for unusual sentence structures. Try to simplify it and understand what the sentence is really saying. Focusing on the verb can sometimes help with that.

  2. Mazen · 2020-02-20 23:13

    Thank you vey much!!! Forgive me for not addressing you by name; your name is not listed. Nevertheless, I am grateful for your advice.

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