Relative Clauses

Volume 1

How to Form Relative ClausesDefining and Non defining

In this section we will look at how we form relative clauses and what they are.

A relative clause is a part of a sentence beginning with a relative pronoun.

For example:

The company where I worked is called International Enterprises Plc.

The man who went into the baker's bought a loaf of bread.

My sister, who lives near London, is coming to visit me soon.

The relative pronoun you use depends on the thing you're talking about. Generally speaking, the most basic ones are these:

for people…who/thatfor things…which/thatfor places…wherefor reasons…whyfor times…when

Lets put a sentence together to see how relative clauses work.

Do you know the girl who is talking to Kosta?

What is the relative pro noun in this sentence?

That’s correct!

A- Do you know the girl who is talking to Kosta?

Imagine, a girl is talking to Kosta. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. You could say:

B - A girl is talking to Kosta. Do you know the girl?

Now, thinking about using relative clauses, which sentence sounds better? A or B ?

Yes. A! B 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 …

As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information – the girl is talking to Kosta. 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 correct sentence is:

Do you know the girl who is talking to Kosta?

Ok… Lets review how we choose relative pronouns. Who is a subject or object pronoun for people Example - I told you about the woman who lives next door. Which is a subject or object pronoun for animals, buildings,

and things Example - Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof?

Which also refers to a whole sentence Example - He couldn’t read which surprised me. Whose is a possession for people animals and things Example - Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse? Whom is an object pronoun for people. [especially in non-

defining relative clauses] [in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who]

Example - I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.

That is a subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)

Example - I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen.

Lets fill the blanks with relative pronouns to practice using them.

1. Can you remember the girl_____________showed you the way?

2. The dog____________we heard last night is a bulldog.

3. The friends____________you are living with phoned you yesterday.

4. The money_____________we spend on magazines should be spent on books.

5. The doctor_____________visited your mother is very famous.

6. Where is the library____________you borrowed those books from?

7. People_____________live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

8. The street_____________leads to the school is being repaired.

9. Here is the man___________dog bit you.

10.I know somebody____________lives in the town where you were born.

Defining Relative Clauses

Excellent. Don’t worry if you don’t remember them all, with practice they will become easier to remember.

Ok… Lets move on to looking at the difference between Defining Relative Clauses and Non Defining Relative Clauses.

Defining Relative clauses

Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive relative clauses) give detailed information defining a general term or expression.

Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.

Imagine, Kosta is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Kosta and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.

Do you know the girl who is talking to Kosta?

Defining relative clauses are also often used in definitions.

Example:A seaman is someone who works on a ship.

Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)

The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.[we can drop who/whom, and it sounds like this].The boy we met yesterday is very nice.[Contact clause]

Some tips on using WHOSE or WHOM

Whom is hardly ever used in spoken English, and not often in written English. It sounds very formal to most people. If you're going to use it at all, then only use it after prepositions. Even so, there's usually another less formal way to say the same thing. For example:

The woman to whom he was talking is his sister.

The woman that he was talking to is his sister.

WHOSE

WHOSE is used to show possession. It means basically 'of who(m)'. It can always be used for people and animals, but also for things, though this sometimes sounds strange and it might be better to change the structure of the sentence unless the thing is made up of people (a team, a city, an organisation).

Some examples:

My students, whose homework is never done, will fail the exam. The homework belongs to the students, it's theirs, so whose is

used as a possessive.

That dog whose bone you took is going to bite your leg off. It is - or was - the dog's bone.

The city, whose football team lost the final, never wins anything.

The city's made up of people, so it sounds OK.

An easy way to remember Defining Relative Clauses is that they answer the question which what or whose?

Example sentence:

People are fools.

Defining relative clause sentence:

People who do such things are fools.

In the relative clause sentence the people are restricted to a specific group only.

[specific group– fools]

Exercise on Relative Clauses (Contact clauses)

Relative Clauses - Formation

Complete the sentences using relative clauses. Use who and which.

1. A Scot is a person who lives in………..(live in Scotland) 2. Nessie is a monster (live in Loch Ness) 3. A fridge is a thing (keep food cool) 4. A DJ is someone (play music in a disco) 5. A bee is an insect (make honey) 6. A lemon is a fruit (be yellow and sour) 7. A watch is a thing (tell the time) 8. A ferry is a ship (carry people across the water) 9. A shop assistant is someone (work in a shop) 10. A key is a thing (can open and lock doors)

Non-defining relative clauses

Non-defining relative clauses

These are the ones that give extra information. They are always written between commas. If you leave out the relative clause between the commas it still makes sense. For example:

Valencia, which is Spain's third largest city, is on the Mediterranean coast.

[We all know Valencia, so this is extra information not needed for understanding]

My parents, who are retired, come to Spain every year.

[ I've only got one set of parents]

Non-defining relative clauses give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.

Imagine, Kosta is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you mean.

Do you know the girl, who is talking to Kosta?

Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.

Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.

Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.

Just to be clear…Non defining relative clauses tell us more about

someone or something, but do not define it.

For example:Elephants, which are large and grey, can sometimes

be found in zoos. * This gives us some extra information about

elephants - we are talking about all elephants, not just one type or group.

My sister, who lives in France, is coming to stay with me next week.

* "who lives in France" is not essential, which means that I only have one sister and she does not need to be defined by the "relative clause”)

A note on Punctuation when using non-defining relative clauses.

Correct punctuation is essential in non-defining relative clauses. If the non-defining relative clause occurs in the middle of a sentence, a comma is put before the relative pronoun and at the end of the clause. If the non-defining relative clause occurs at the end of a sentence, a comma is put before the relative pronoun.

For example

* My friend John, who went to the same school as me, has just written a best-selling novel.

Finally, on using whom and which

The relative pronoun "which" at the beginning of a non-defining relative clause, can refer to all the information contained in the previous part of the sentence, rather than to just one word.

For example:

* Chris did really well in his exams, which was a big surprise. * = the fact that he did well in his exams was a big surprise. * An elephant and a mouse fell in love, which is most unusual. * = the fact that they fell in love is unusual).

Examples:

* Mrs. Jackson, who is very intelligent, lives on the corner. * We stopped at the museum, which we’d never been into. * I’ve just met Susan, whose husband works in London. * I spoke to Fred, who explained the problem.

Relative Clauses

So, that’s all for today on Relative Clauses…

Please make sure and review these slides!There are also some excellent practice

websites for relative clauses and Grammar overall.

Check this one:http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/gramm

ar/relative-clauses/exercises?04

Relative Clauses

Do you have any questions?

And don’t worry if it all doesn’t make sense immediately. It will slowly become easier to understand with practice!