When can the relative pronoun be omitted? This is not very clear for me.
I don't understand the rules.
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John Lawler
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4What rules have you been taught? – John Lawler Feb 25 '17 at 16:46
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If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is an object pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining relative clauses:
The boy (whom) we met yesterday is very nice.
More about Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses are available here.
mahmud k pukayoor
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Subject relative pronouns can also be dropped, as long as the relative clause starts out with some kind of subject of its own. For example "She divorced her husband eight years ago—a step she says helped her overcome many of the psychological issues she faced with regard to her weight since her childhood." (https://books.google.com/books?id=PQ5aAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA63&dq=%22she+says+helped+her%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibztma8avSAhUX8YMKHRDTAh0Q6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=%22she%20says%20helped%20her%22&f=false) – herisson Feb 25 '17 at 18:33
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@sumelic Yes, but that's because R is subject of the embedded help clause, so it doesn't prove that a subject relative pronoun can be dropped: "a step [(that) she says __ helped her]", i.e. "She says R helped her". – BillJ Feb 25 '17 at 19:05
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@BillJ: I guess we are using the term "subject relative pronoun" with different meanings. I understood it to mean "a pronoun that plays the role of a subject in its immediately surrounding clause" but you are saying it means "a pronoun that plays the role of subject in the overall relative clause". It doesn't seem right to me to call "that" in "a step that she says helped her" an object pronoun since it's not the object of anything: the object of "says" is the entire subordinate clause. What is the right term for it? – herisson Feb 25 '17 at 19:14
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@sumelic Yes, when we talk of a subject relative pronoun, we mean one that functions as the subject of the relative clause (some friends who saw her). In your example the relativized element is not subject or object of the relative clause; rather, it is subject of the embedded help clause. – BillJ Feb 25 '17 at 19:49
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@BillJ I think what Sumelic is aiming at is that - contrary to what is often said, and what is implied by OP - the omitted pronoun need not be an OBJECT either of the verb or of a preposition. (I agree with everything you say, of course ...) – Araucaria - Him Feb 25 '17 at 20:33