RELATIVE CLAUSES Defining and Nondefining clauses By Denise

RELATIVE CLAUSES Defining and Non-defining clauses By Denise D’Alessandro

Defining clauses are an essential part of the meaning of the sentence and cannot be left out. • There’s the boy who you were telling me about. DR qualify a noun, and tell us exactly which person or thing is being referred to: • Politicians who tell lies are odious. Who tell lies are exactly which politicians are odious, without the DR clause, the speaker is saying that all politicians are odious.

Pronoun left out Pronoun not left out • Did you like the present ( ) I gave you • Who was the man ( ) you were talking to • The thing ( ) I like about Lucas is his sense of humor. Subject Object • I met a man who works in soap operas. • I’ll take you to the place that changed my life. • The thing that helped me most was being self confident. Person Thing who (that) ___ (that) that (which) _____ (that) • The words in brackets are possible but not as common. • _____ means “nothing”

Notes: • THAT is preferred to WHICH after superlatives and words such as all, every(thing), some(thing), any(thing) and only. • “Dead Poets Society” is the best movie that was ever made. • All that is left is a few slices of pizza. • Give me something that will take away my headache, please.

Non-defining clauses add secondary information to a sentence. • My friend Carlos, who is Spanish, makes a delicious Paella. • Politicians, who tell lies, are odious. The NDR clause suggests that all politicians tell lies.

Relative pronouns cannot be left out of NDR clauses. Relative pronoun as subject: Relative pronoun as object: • Dan Brown, who has written several books, addressed the meeting. • His last book, which received a lot of praise, has been a great success. • Dan Brown, who (whom) I knew in Alabama, addressed the meeting. • His last book, which I didn’t like at all, has been a great success.

Note: • Prepositions can come at the end of the clause. • He talked about formulas and theories, which I’d never even heard of. • He is the boy who I went to the prom with.

WHICH WHOSE • Which can be used in NDR clauses to refer to the whole of the sentence before. • Whose can be used in both DR and NDR clauses. • She arrived on time, which amazed the teacher. • The computer isn’t working well, which did not surprise anyone. • That’s the group whose tests were corrected. • Gustavo, whose only interest is electronic devices, never goes on vacation without his cell phone.

WHAT WHY • What is used in DR clauses to mean the thing that. • Why can be used to introduce DR clauses after the word reason. It can be left out. • Has she told you what’s worrying her • What I need to know is where you’re going. • Do you remember the reason why we’re arguing

WHEN and WHERE • When and Where can be used to introduce both DR and NDR clauses. In DR clauses, when can be left out. • Can you tell me the exact time (when) you hope to arrive • Where cannot be left out unless we add a preposition. • That’s the hotel where we’re staying. • That’s the hotel we’re staying at. • In NDR clauses, when and where cannot be left out.