When constructing sentences in English, it’s common to wonder whether words like ‘who’ can be added or omitted without affecting the sentence’s meaning. In this article, we’ll explore a specific example involving the phrase ‘students taking chemistry’ and discuss whether inserting ‘who’ between ‘students’ and ‘taking’ is grammatically correct.
1. The Structure of ‘Students Taking Chemistry’
The sentence ‘What percentage of students taking chemistry are female?’ is an example of a relative clause. Here, ‘students taking chemistry’ refers to a specific group of students. The sentence works well without inserting ‘who’ because ‘taking chemistry’ directly describes the students, and the phrase is a natural way to express the relationship between ‘students’ and their action.
2. Inserting ‘Who’ in the Sentence
Many learners ask if it’s correct to insert ‘who’ between ‘students’ and ‘taking.’ The modified sentence would be ‘What percentage of students who are taking chemistry are female?’ While grammatically correct, this addition doesn’t change the meaning, but it does make the sentence slightly more formal. The relative pronoun ‘who’ introduces a dependent clause that describes the students, making the sentence longer and a bit more complex.
3. Is ‘Who’ Necessary?
In this case, ‘who’ is not strictly necessary. The original sentence, ‘What percentage of students taking chemistry are female?’ is perfectly fine in informal and academic contexts. Adding ‘who’ is a matter of style, and it’s often more common to omit ‘who’ when the relative clause directly follows the noun, especially in cases where the subject of the clause is already implied, as with ‘students taking chemistry.’
4. Conclusion: When to Use or Omit ‘Who’
In English, the choice to use or omit ‘who’ in relative clauses depends on the desired sentence structure and formality. In most cases, both forms are grammatically correct. However, inserting ‘who’ can provide clarity in longer or more complex sentences. For learners, it’s important to recognize the flexibility of relative clauses in English and decide based on context.
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