I hope that you are happy no matter what (the) situation is in your life

[My sentences]



S = subject
V = verb
C = complement
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1. Are both senteces correct?
2. Is my understaning correct?

I think the definite article is optional following "no matter what".

I am neither a teacher nor a native speaker.

tedmc said:

I think the definite article is optional following "no matter what".

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Do you mean this?

I don't find either sentence natural. Do you mean something like this?

I hope you're happy no matter what situation you find yourself in.

kadioguy said:

S = subject
V = verb
C = complement

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kadioguy said:

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Both sentences are grammatical, but none of the ways in which you have underlined the "no matter" component makes any sense.

The part of the sentence following "no matter" is an embedded interrogative clause, whether or not the is used.

In the embedded interrogative "what the situation is in your life," what functions as subject complement.

In the embedded interrogative "what situation is in your life," what functions as a determiner whose complement is the noun situation.

Huddleston & Pullum (2002) say, "[N]o matter is an idiom with the form of an NP which might be regarded as having been reanalyzed as a preposition" (761).

No matter takes embedded interrogative complements, like the compound preposition regardless of.

You can also use a simple noun phrase after no matter. You could simply say: I hope that you are happy, no matter your life situation.

Here are two Reed-Kellogg diagrams which illustrate the two sentences that you have produced. Note how what functions differently in each.

I hope that you are happy no matter what situation is in your life.



I hope that you are happy no matter what the situation is in your life.

Phaedrus said:

Huddleston & Pullum (2002) say, "[N]o matter is an idiom with the form of an NP which might be regarded as having been reanalyzed as a preposition" (761).

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I'm wondering why you used "N" with brackets. Does that mean anything?

I happen to have this book: (But it's a little hard for me. )

kadioguy said:

I'm wondering why you used "N" with brackets. Does that mean anything?

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Yes, it does. The "N" is in brackets in my quotation because I was capitalizing the letter. As you can see, the letter is a lower-case "n" in the original.