Relative Clause Relative Adverb Review What is a
Relative Clause & Relative Adverb Review
What is a relative clause? • Like any clause, a relative clause has its own subject and predicate. • Relative clauses are found within the principal clause and are just one way to create a complex sentence. • Relative clauses ALWAYS describe the noun or pronoun right in front of it • This is why relative clauses are ALWAYS adjectival.
• More about Relative Clauses These clauses can be essential (necessary to understand the noun its modifying) or non-essential (not necessary for understanding the modified noun). • • Essential clauses don’t need commas on either side. Non-essential clauses need commas on either side to show that it is not necessary. Relative clauses often start with a relative pronoun: • Whom That Whose Who Which Relative adverbs can also begin a relative clause. They connect the clause to the noun or pronoun that it modifies
• Relative adverbs The relative adverbs are: • Where When Why. Wherever/Whenever • They act as an adverb within the relative clause, but the clause itself is still adjectival. • When the relative adverb or pronoun acts as the direct object in the clause, it can be dropped. We would need to add the adverb or pronoun back in when analyzing and diagramming. • • Ex: Run for the lunches that the goat snatched. Ex: Run for the lunches the goat snatched. • Since that was acting as a direct object (what the goat snatched) it can be dropped from the relative clause without changing the meaning of the sentence.
Analyzing & Diagramming • • • Clause are marked with [ ] on either end of the clause. • The relative adverb is connecting to the principal verb that it describes with a dotted line. All parts of speech are still marked the same. When diagramming the relative pronoun is connected to the noun or pronoun it describes with a dotted line.
• Relative clause without a relative adverb: The detour signs, which cause traffic, were plentiful. • Example sentences Relative clause with a dropped relative adverb: He lifted the kettle from a hook (that) he had taken from an old wagon. • Relative clause with a relative adverb: In the corner was a fireplace where a kettle hung.
- Slides: 6