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I don't want to go to a not nice place.

I don't want to go to a place not nice.

I know that the first one is correct, and the second one is too. My question is, is whiz deletion used for the second sentence?

Community
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jojo
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2 Answers2

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The problem here is not with WHIZ, which does apply, but rather with what happens then. Does "not nice" count as a modifier of "place", which requires that it be preposed, so that it goes in the normal place for a noun modifier, or is it too complex to count as a single modifier, so that it should remain in position after "place".

Tentatively, my intuition is that there is no good solution. "Not nice" is simple enough that it cannot remain in position after the noun, yet too complex to be preposed. So there is no good way to say it.

Greg Lee
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I would say the first sentence is seriously flawed. I don't really know anybody who would say something like that in the US.

See, the so-called whiz deletion is originally used to replace who and to be but I assume you mean to say: "to a place that is not nice". so I think whiz deletion is used there but you cannot drop that is out of it otherwise it's wrong. Hope it helps:)

HUIta
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    I think it's fine to refer to a "not-nice place." A. Let's go to a nice place for dinner. B. Better than going to a not-nice place, I think. – Robusto Aug 16 '15 at 00:45
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    My niece who is five speaks like that and I think she doesn't even give a damn about whiz deletion – HUIta Aug 16 '15 at 00:49
  • The reason I asked is because of this sentence: I'd go to any place, somewhere not here. Someone said it in the book. – jojo Aug 16 '15 at 02:20
  • Sure, but what you have here is a bit different as it's something like a specifying clause. You could easily say a lot of things like that. But I don't know whether or not whiz deletion takes place there, I'm just not sure about it. This sentence is undoubtedly correct but the ones you had up there are not correct. So I cannot state unequivocally that this sentence has some whiz deletion I wish I could but I can't – HUIta Aug 16 '15 at 02:34