Relative Clauses
Relative
clauses are clauses starting with the relative pronouns who*, that, which,
whose, where, when. They are most often used to define or identify the noun
that precedes them. Here are some examples:
- Do you know the girl who started in grade 7 last week?
- Can I have the pencil that I gave you this morning?
- A notebook is a computer which can be carried around.
- I won't eat in a restaurant whose cooks smoke.
- I want to live in a place where there is lots to do.
- Yesterday was a day when everything went wrong!
* There is
a relative pronoun whom, which can be used as the object of the relative
clause. For example: My science teacher is a person whom I like very much.
To many people the word whom now sounds old-fashioned, and it is rarely
used in spoken English.
Relative
pronouns are associated as follows with their preceding noun:
|
Preceding noun
|
Relative pronoun
|
Examples
|
|
a person
|
who(m)/that, whose
|
- Do you know the girl who ..
- He was a man that .. - An orphan is a child whose parents .. |
|
a thing
|
which†/that, whose
|
- Do you have a computer which ..
- The oak a tree that .. - This is a book whose author .. |
Note 1:
The relative pronoun whose is used in place of the possessive pronoun.
It must be followed by a noun. Example: There's a boy in grade 8 whose
father is a professional tennis player. (There's a boy in grade 8. His
father is a professional tennis player.)
Note 2:
The relative pronouns where and when are used with place and time
nouns. Examples: FIS is a school where children from more than 50 countries
are educated. 2001 was the year when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers in New
York.
Some
relative clauses are not used to define or identify the preceding noun but to
give extra information about it. Here are some examples:
- My ESL teacher, who came to Germany in 1986, likes to ride his mountain bike.
- The heavy rain, which was unusual for the time of year, destroyed most of the plants in my garden.
- Einstein, who was born in Germany, is famous for his theory of relativity.
- The boy, whose parents both work as teachers at the school, started a fire in the classroom.
- My mother's company, which makes mobile phones, is moving soon from Frankfurt to London.
- In the summer I'm going to visit Italy, where my brother lives.
Note 1:
Relative clauses which give extra information, as in the example sentences
above, must be separated off by commas.
Note 2:
The relative pronoun that cannot be used to introduce an
extra-information (non-defining) clause about a person. Wrong: Neil
Armstrong, that was born in 1930, was the first man to stand on the moon.
Correct: Neil Armstrong, who was born in 1930, was the first man to
stand on the moon.
There are
two common occasions, particularly in spoken English, when the relative pronoun
is omitted:
1. When
the pronoun is the object of the relative clause. In the following sentences
the pronoun that can be left out is enclosed in (brackets):
- Do you know the girl (who/m) he's talking to?
- Where's the pencil (which) I gave you yesterday?
- I haven't read any of the books (that) I got for Christmas.
- I didn't like that girl (that) you brought to the party.
- Did you find the money (which) you lost?
Note: You cannot
omit the relative pronoun a.) if it starts a non-defining relative clause, or,
b.) if it is the subject of a defining relative clause. For example, who
is necessary in the following sentence: What's the name of the girl who won
the tennis tournament?
2. When
the relative clause contains a present or past participle and the auxiliary
verb to be. In such cases both relative pronoun and auxiliary can be
left out:
- Who's that man (who is) standing by the gate?
- The family (that is) living in the next house comes from Slovenia.
- She was wearing a dress (which was) covered in blue flowers.
- Most of the parents (who were) invited to the conference did not come.
- Anyone (that is) caught writing on the walls will be expelled from school.
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/relative.htm
Exercise 37
1. Whose
2. Whose
3. Which you spoke yesterday
4. Who the highest in the school
5. What
6. Who
7. Whose
8. Whose
9. What
10. What
11. Whose
12. What
13. Whose
14. That
15. Whose
Exercise 38
1. George is the man chosen to
represent the committee at the convention.
2. All of the money was accepted
has already been released.
3. The papers on the table belong
to patricia.
4. The man brought to the police
station confessed to the crime.
5. The gril drinking coffee is Mary
Allen.
6. John’s wife, a professor, has
written several papers on this subject.
7. The man talking to the policeman
is my uncel.
8. The book on the top shelf is the
one that i need.
9. The number of students have been
countrd is quite high.
10. Leo Evans, a doctor, eats in
this restaurant every day.
