Coming into the room, he saw Mary

M

mimi2

Senior Member
vietnam vietnamese
Hi,
Is it possible to put "where" here?
"Coming into the room, he saw Mary where he had left her."
Thanks a lot.
 
    • Hello mimi

    If you say "He saw that Mary was in the room where he had left her"
    It means that Mary is in the room

    If you say "Coming into the room, he saw Mary where he had left her." It means she is in the room but can also mean in the exact spot in the room where he had left her (i.e. the couch)

    Is that what you're asking?
     
    Hi, Ireney,
    I understand what you have explained to me.
    Can you analyze it. I feel unsure about the position of "where"
    "He saw Mary where he had left her."
    Thanks a lot.
     
    Well, in the sentence "He saw Mary where he had left her" you just don't specify where that place is. If you say "in the room where he had left her" you specify that she was in the room. If you say "in the couch where he had left her" you specify the furniture but not the room.

    Does this help at all?
     
    So in the sentence: "He saw Mary where he had left her" it must be lack of something. It is not a complete sentence. Is it right?
     
    No, as a sentence it is complete. Depending on the context we may a) have already been informed where Mary was or b) not be interested in exactly where Mary was.

    Examples
    A: Where are my keys?
    B: (They are) where you left them
    - - -
    A: When I came back the dog was where I left it. Have you seen a more lazy animal?
    ---
    She was sitting on the floor when I went shopping. When I came back I saw Mary where I had left her.


    If, however, you want people to know where Mary was then you have to write it (before using the "where he had left her")
     
    Possibly there should be a comma there: "He saw Mary, where he had left her". Alternatively it could be something like: "He saw that Mary was where he had left her".

    I could be reading way too much into this, but to my mind the second sentence has a higher level of anxiety in it, as though he is actively checking Mary's whereabouts. In the first sentence it's more that he happend to notice that Mary was still there.

    Alcina
     
    alcinababe I don't think you are reading too much. In fact it all begun because I forgot to put a comma in post #4 :eek:
     
    Hi, Ireney.
    Can I write like this:
    "He saw Mary there where he had left her."
    Thanks.
     
    Well, you could say "He saw Mary there, where he had left her". That's the only way it would work. Without a comma "there" would be redundant as I see it.
     
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