<p>Actually, the sentence itself is stilted and ambiguous in meaning. </p>

<p>你看了大卫给谁的书。</p>

<p>The way to express your first idea(You read the book that David gave someone):</p>

<p>你看了David给别人的书。</p>

<p>And the second one (You read the book that David gave someone, and who did he give it to?): </p>

<p>你看的那本书David给谁了？or 你看过的那本书David给谁了？</p>

<p>Both implies that you have read the book; you are questioning who David have given that book to.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-16T00:39:58.017Z
2017-08-16T00:39:58.017Z
dan
<p>First analyze the components of the sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>你看了大卫给谁的书？ (should be a question mark here)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Here, 你 is the subject, 看了 is the predicative, and the phrase 大卫给谁的书 is the object. Actually, 书 is the object, and 大卫给谁的 is the <em>attribute modifier</em>.</p>

<p>So the sentence is basically 你看了书. The question is located in the attribute modifier, so it's asking about <strong>Who David give the book to</strong>.</p>

<p>A reference translation is</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Who</strong> did David give the book (that you read) to?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>(It just seems to be as confusing as the original Chinese sentence.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-17T02:08:39.130Z
You got the point. The sentence is valid grammatically, but its logic is confusing.   The common sentence structure is “subject + predicate + object”. If you want to question 谁, 谁 got to be either subject or object in this sentence. However, the main parts of the sentence is 你看了书 and 谁 is just the part of the attribute modifier. If you change 谁 to 他， the sentence will make sense as a declarative, 你看了大卫给他的书。And if you really want to question 谁，you have to make it as an object in this case: 你看的那本书David给谁了？
dan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-17T04:08:00.930Z
@dan See [my profile](/users/16738). I'm native to Chinese, not a foreign learner.
iBug
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-16T15:35:09.773Z
2017-08-16T15:35:09.773Z
iBug
<p>When an embedded question is used as a relative clause, does the embedded question still have an interrogative function, or does it become purely descriptive?</p>

<p>E.g.,</p>

<p>你看了大卫给谁的书。</p>

<p>Is this:</p>

<p>You read the book that David gave someone. </p>

<p>OR</p>

<p>You read the book that David gave someone, and who did he give it to?</p>

<p>If it's the former, is this phenomenon completely general, wherein embedding a question makes the WH word interpretable as an indefinite pronoun?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-15T21:45:39.460Z
It's the second - the sentence becomes interrogative.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-15T23:50:38.667Z
Are you trying to say: 1. 你看了的书，被大卫给谁？ or 2. 你看见大卫把书给谁了吗？
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-16T15:29:21.383Z
@Pedroski No doubt it's the 1st one. The 2nd makes no sense.
iBug
<grammar><syntax>
Interpretation of Embedded Questions as Relative Clauses
# Interpretation of Embedded Questions as Relative Clauses

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-08-15)

When an embedded question is used as a relative clause, does the embedded question still have an interrogative function, or does it become purely descriptive?

E.g.,

你看了大卫给谁的书。

Is this:

You read the book that David gave someone.

OR

You read the book that David gave someone, and who did he give it to?

If it's the former, is this phenomenon completely general, wherein embedding a question makes the WH word interpretable as an indefinite pronoun?

**Tags:** grammar, syntax

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's the second - the sentence becomes interrogative.  
> **username_2**: Are you trying to say: 1. 你看了的书，被大卫给谁？ or 2. 你看见大卫把书给谁了吗？  
> **username_3**: @username_2 No doubt it's the 1st one. The 2nd makes no sense.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-08-16. Score: 1

Actually, the sentence itself is stilted and ambiguous in meaning.

你看了大卫给谁的书。

The way to express your first idea(You read the book that David gave someone):

你看了David给别人的书。

And the second one (You read the book that David gave someone, and who did he give it to?):

你看的那本书David给谁了？or 你看过的那本书David给谁了？

Both implies that you have read the book; you are questioning who David have given that book to.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-08-16. Score: 0

First analyze the components of the sentence:

> 你看了大卫给谁的书？ (should be a question mark here)

Here, 你 is the subject, 看了 is the predicative, and the phrase 大卫给谁的书 is the object. Actually, 书 is the object, and 大卫给谁的 is the *attribute modifier*.

So the sentence is basically 你看了书. The question is located in the attribute modifier, so it's asking about **Who David give the book to**.

A reference translation is

> **Who** did David give the book (that you read) to?

(It just seems to be as confusing as the original Chinese sentence.)

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: You got the point. The sentence is valid grammatically, but its logic is confusing.   The common sentence structure is “subject + predicate + object”. If you want to question 谁, 谁 got to be either subject or object in this sentence. However, the main parts of the sentence is 你看了书 and 谁 is just the part of the attribute modifier. If you change 谁 to 他， the sentence will make sense as a declarative, 你看了大卫给他的书。And if you really want to question 谁，you have to make it as an object in this case: 你看的那本书David给谁了？  
> **username_3**: @username_4 See [my profile](/users/16738). I'm native to Chinese, not a foreign learner.  

---

