syntax - Can a dependent clause undergo inversion in English?


The grammars I've seen state that dependent clauses never undergo inversion. This agrees with sentences like



Tell me where he is.



But how sentences like



Tell me, where is he?



should be analyzed? Isn't where is he a dependent clause in this case?



Answer



"Where is he" is an independent clause. The subject-verb inversion is because it's an interrogatory independent clause. There wouldn't be a question mark if it were a dependent clause, since the main clause would be imperative. The sentence has two independent clauses without a conjunction. In most cases this would call for a semicolon, but when the first clause is a short imperative one introducing a question, a comma is used. A well-known complicated example is found in the US national anthem: "Oh say, can you see by the dawn's early light ..." and so on through a labyrinth of subordinate clauses.


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