the place (where)...was

[ademoglu]

Hi,

''The place where Mary kept a pig was the garden shed.''

Taken from: Practical English Usage (p. 106)

I'd like to ask if we can omit 'the place' in the sentence above?

Where Mary kept a pig was the garden shed.

Thanks.

 

[Barb_D]

It's so artificial.

Mary kept a pig in the garden shed. That's how 99% of English speakers would say it, without some specific context to make use want to start with "The place." And then I'd omit "where."

Your rewrite is grammatical, but also very, very unnatural.