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Relative Clause

This document discusses different types of clauses and relative clauses. It defines a clause as the basic unit of grammar containing a subject and verb. Main clauses can stand alone as sentences, while subordinate clauses cannot. Relative clauses provide additional information about a noun and are introduced by relative pronouns like who, which, when, where, whose. Relative clauses can be defining, where the information is essential, or non-defining, where it provides extra context.

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88 views

Relative Clause

This document discusses different types of clauses and relative clauses. It defines a clause as the basic unit of grammar containing a subject and verb. Main clauses can stand alone as sentences, while subordinate clauses cannot. Relative clauses provide additional information about a noun and are introduced by relative pronouns like who, which, when, where, whose. Relative clauses can be defining, where the information is essential, or non-defining, where it provides extra context.

Uploaded by

ꂅᏒꂅภ ᕱᏒᏕᎥภ
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Relative

Clauses
What is Clause?
Clause
• A clause is the basic unit of grammar.
• Typically a main clause is made up of a subject (a noun phrase) and a verb phrase.
• Sometimes the verb phrase is followed by other elements, e.g objects. These other
elements are sometimes essential to complete the meaning of the clause.

Is it a clause?

1. Sarah smiled.
2. Joe doesn’t feel.
3. They haven’t posted all the invitations yet.
4. I’ll call you.
5. Be careful!

Main (Independent) Clause and Subordinate


(Dependent) Clause
Main Clause and Dependent Clause
• Main (or independent) clauses can form sentences on their own. They aren’t
dependent on other clauses.
• Subordinate (or dependent) clauses cannot form sentences on their own. They are
dependent on main clauses to form sentences.
• Read the following sentences and tell how many clauses each sentence consists of.

Main Clause and Dependent Clause


1. I didn’t go to work because I wasn’t feeling very well.
2. He studied violin and mathematics before taking a medical degree and doing
postgraduate work in biophysics at Harvard.
3. She had pretty hair and must have been nice-looking when she was young.
4. If I tell him will he be angry?
5. I’ll take the train and you can take the car.

REMEMBER THAT MAIN CLAUSES CAN FORM SENTENCES ON THEIR OWN. UNDERLINE THE MAIN CLAUSES!

Main Clause and Dependent Clause


1. I didn’t go to work because I wasn’t feeling very well.
2. He studied violin and mathematics before taking a medical degree and doing
postgraduate work in biophysics at Harvard.
3. She had pretty hair and must have been nice-looking when she was young.
4. If I tell him will he be angry?
5. I’ll take the train and you can take the car. (Both are main clauses)

Relative Clauses
• Relative clauses are used to give additional
information about a noun, such as a person, place
or thing.
• Relative pronouns introduce a relative clause.
1. who (that) for people
2. which (that) for things
3. when for time
4. where for places
5. whose to show possession.

Relative Clauses

• They’re the people who want to buy our


house.
• Here are some cells which have been
affected.
• They should give the money to somebody
who they think needs the treatment most.

Relative Clauses: Subject or


Object
• The relative pronoun can define the
subject or the object of the verb:
1. They’re the people who/that bought our
house. (The people bought our house.
The people is the subject.)
2. They’re the people who/that she met at
Jon’s party. (She met the people. The
people is the object.)

Relative clauses are classified under


two categories:
1. Defining relative clauses
2. Non-defining relative clauses
(Upper-intermediate level)

• Defining relative clauses give essential


information about the subject of the
sentence.
• They define the person, time or thing that
we are talking about. If we remove the
clause, the sentence does not make sense.

• The woman who found my wallet handed it in


to reception.
• The student whose dog has run away has
gone to look for it.
• I remember the day when we first met.
• These are the earrings that / which my
mother gave me.

“The woman who found my wallet handed it in to reception.”

1. Find the relative clause

2. Omit it

3. Read the main clause. Does it make sense? Is everything clear?

4. If not, the relative clause in this sentence can be classified as a defining relative clause.

Non-defining relative clauses add extra


information to a noun or noun phrase. This
extra information is not essential. If we move
the clause, the sentence still makes sense.
This type of clause is more common in
written English.

• My friend’s birthday, which was last weekend,


was great fun.
• My current girlfriend, who I love very much, calls
me every night.
• My PhD supervisor was from Budapest, which is
the capital city of Hungary.

Form
• De ning relative clauses are made with
noun + relative pronoun + rest of clause.
1. A kangaroo is an animal which lives in
Australia.
2. The man who came for lunch was my uncle.
3. Winter is a time when it sometimes snows.
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• Non-de ning relative clauses are made in the


same way. An important di erence, however,
between both types of clause is the use of
punctuation. With non-de ning relative clauses,
we separate the clause with commas. We cannot
use that in this type of clause.

1. My favourite food, which used to be Italian, is


now Japanese.

2. Rachel, whom we met yesterday, lives in this


neighbourhood.

3. My car, which I bought seven years ago, needs


replacing.

4. This shirt, which I bought last weekend, cost £50.


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Advanced Use of Relative Clauses


Read the following sentences and decide if relative pronouns is the object of the verb.

1. This is the t-shirt that I bought.


2. The girl who I like isn’t here.
3. They’re the people who she met at Jon’s party.
4. Here are some cells which the researcher has identified.

We often leave out the relative pronoun when it is the object of the verb:

1. This is the t-shirt I bought.


2. The girl I like isn’t here.
3. They’re the people she met at Jon’s party.
4. Here are some cells the researcher has identified.

In everyday English, the preposition is normally placed at the end of the relative clause:

1. Is that the man who she arrived with?


2. Does he know the girl that John is talking to?
3. The person who he is negotiating with is the Chairman of a large company.
4. He liked the people that he lived with.
5. It was the river that the children preferred to swim in.
6. The tree that they had their picnic under was the largest and oldest in the park.

In formal English, the preposition is placed before the relative pronoun

1. Is that the man with whom she arrived?


2. Does he know the girl to whom John is talking?
3. The person with whom he is negotiating is the Chairman of a large company.
4. He liked the people with whom he lived.
5. It was the river in which the children preferred to swim.
6. The tree under which they had their picnic was the largest and oldest in the park.

PREPOSITIONS + WHOM / PREPOSITIONS + WHICH

WE USE THE PREPOSITIONS BEFORE THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS “WHOM” AND “WHICH” ONLY.

The relative pronoun who is used when referring to people. However, in formal
written and spoken English, if the pronoun refers to the object of the clause, we use
whom instead.
My German teacher, whom I really admired, retired last year.

Reduced Relative Clause


• My parents were proud of my brother (who
has completed) completing his university
education successfully. 1. DECIDE WHICH VOICE IS
• I need to revise the grammatical patterns USED IN RELATIVE CLAUSES
(which were covered) covered yesterday in (ACTIVE / PASSIVE)
the lesson. 2. FOR ACTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES,
OMIT THE RELATIVE PRONOUN AND
THE HELPER AND USE THE VERB IN
GERUND FORM
3. FOR PASSIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES,
OMIT THE RELATIVE PRONOUN
AND THE HELPER.

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