PQRS ordering — Produce the quoted statement: He said, ‘‘Here is the cat that ate the rat which had been playing havoc with things throughout the night’’ (correct relative-clause nesting explained).

Given data

• P: ‘‘here is the cat’’
• Q: ‘‘throughout the night’’
• R: ‘‘which had been playing havoc with things’’
• S: ‘‘that ate the rat’’

Concept/ApproachState the deictic clause (P), then the first relative clause modifying ‘‘cat’’ (S). Next, attach the second relative clause (R) modifying ‘‘rat’’, and close with its time adverbial (Q).

Stepwise buildP → S → R → QFull sentence: ‘‘He said, ‘Here is the cat that ate the rat which had been playing havoc with things throughout the night.’’’

Why others failPlacing Q before R detaches the time modifier from the action that needs it; PSRQ keeps the nested clause chain intact.

Final AnswerPSRQ