Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Koro]

I've come across the following sentence:

Sooner or later, you have to face the fact that kids are not carbon copies of their parents. What you can do is help them grow up as the different individiuals they are.

I'm not sure of the usage or grammar as to the last part of the quotation, 'they are'. I tend to end the sentence without the part. Is it wrong to end the sentence without 'theyare'? If so, why does the sentence need the part? I'd really appreaciate if you could explain to me why 'they are' is added in terms of grammar. Thanks in advance.
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Koro

[buddhaheart]

�As� functions as a conjunction here joining the 2 clauses (�What you can do is help them grow up � ' and �the different individuals they are.�) �Are� is the principal verb for the second clause. The subject is �they�. The whole sentence could be rearranged to read �... they are the different individuals.�

You can have a prepositional phrase after �as� as a conjunction also in which a clause doesn�t appear after �as�. For example, on Friday, as on Tuesday, I go to teach in the morning. You don�t have a clause after �as� if it�s used as an adverb. For example in Cats, as dogs, eat meat, �as� is an adverb. In She acted as teacher, �as� is a preposition.