RELATIVE CLAUSES RELATIVE CLAUSES Relative clauses describe and
RELATIVE CLAUSES
RELATIVE CLAUSES • Relative clauses describe and provide information about something or someone that we have usually already specified. – I like working with students who appreciate what I do. • We use relative clauses in order to identify things or people and to distinguish them from other similar things. – Mancunians aren’t people who live in Manchester, they’re people who were born
USE • We use relative clauses to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. • By combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.
RELATIVE CLAUSES 1. Subject and Object Relative clauses give extra information about a noun in the main clause. They can refer to this as subject or object. “That’s the woman who bought my car” Subject “That’s the flat that I was looking for” Object 2. Combining sentences Note how sentences are combined. Subject : “This is Sofia. She bought my car” “Sofia is the person who bought my car” Object : “That is the flat. I was looking for it” “That is the flat that I was looking for”
How to Form Relative Clauses Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. >>You could say: A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?
A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?
That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? >> It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing – you want to know who the girl is. Do you know the girl …
Do you know the girl…. ?
As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information – the girl is talking to Tom. >Use „the girl“ only in the first part of the sentence, > in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun “who”).
So the final sentence is: Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?
Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom ?
Where do they come in sentences? • They usually come immediately after what they qualify – People who know different foreign languages make better language teachers. • When the relative pronoun is the subject of the relative clause the word order is subject+verb+object – He showed me the rocks which he had collected. • When the relative pronoun is the object the word order is object+subject+verb – The bus came at last, which was an enormous relief.
TYPES • Defining relative clauses give important information to identify the person or thing we are talking about. We don’t use a comma. – People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. • Non-defining relative clauses give additional information about the person or thing we are talking about. We use a comma. – Prof. Johnson, who I have long admired, is coming to visit us next week.
DEFINING CLAUSES • The relative pronoun can be omitted (ø) when it is the object of the clause: • The mouse that the elephant loved was very beautiful. OR • The mouse the elephant loved was very beautiful. • Both of these sentences are correct, though the second one is more common in spoken English.
RELATIVE PRONOUNS IN DEFINING CLAUSES subject object people who / that whom / that /ø things which / that / ø
WHO • subject or object pronoun for people 1. Subject: I told you about the woman who lives next door. 2. Object: (Pronoun Omission) Mary is the girl (who/whom) we met at the party.
WHICH • subject or object pronoun for animals and things 1. Subject: Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? 2. Object: (Pronoun Omission) : Have you seen the book (which ) I put on this table?
THAT • subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible) 1. Subject: I don’t like the table that /which stands in the kitchen. 2. Object: (Pronoun Omission): This is the sweater (that/ which) I bought on Saturday.
WHOSE • possession for people animals and things. WHOSE cannot be omitted. Do you know the girl whose mother is a nurse?
WHOM • object pronoun for people BUT in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who) Pronoun omission : I was invited by the professor (whom /who/that) I met at the conference.
RELATIVE PRONOUNS & ADVERBS IN DEFINING Subject Object Possessi ve Person Thing Place Time Reason who/that which/that who/whom which/that/ where /that/ø ø when why whose
WHEN • Meaning: in/on which • Use: refers to a time expression (Pronoun omission): Is there a time (when) we can meet?
WHERE • Meaning: in/at which • Use: refers to place (Pronoun omission )+ preposition: The hotel where we stay was very small. The hotel we stay at was very small
WHY • Meaning: for which • Use: refers to a reason (Pronoun omission): Is leave now? there a reason (why/ that) you want to
NON- DEFINING Non-defining clauses add extra information, separated by commas in writing, and intonation in speaking. “ Tom’s mother, who is 78, goes swimming every day”
Non-defining pronouns & adverbs CANNOT be OMITTED Person Thing Subject who which Object who/whom Possessi ve whose Place Time Which where when whose
NON-DEFINING EXAMPLES • WHO: Last weekend I met Sue, who told me she was going on holiday soo. • WHOM/ WHO (as object): Sarah Ros, whom /who you met in Madrid last week, will be at the party. • WHICH: Sue´s house, which is in the centre of the town, is over 1 oo years old. • WHOSE: Tina Harris, whose brother is the actor Paul Harris, is a good friend of mine. • WHERE: We visited a town called Christchurch, where we had lunch in an Italian restaurant. • WHEN: We are going on holiday in September, when the weather isn’t so hot
Prepositions + relative pronouns • In formal style we usually put a preposition before the relative pronoun and we use whom instead of who. – The office to which Graham took us was filled with books • In less formal style we usually put the preposition at the end of the relative clause. – The office that Graham took us to was filled with books
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