RELATIVE CLAUSES

RELATIVE CLAUSES

A Relative Clause is a part of a sentence beginning with a relative pronoun [sometimes relative adverbs as well].

Note: The pronoun mentioned in relative clauses can also be omitted sometimes.

E.g. The man who is standing at the book store is my English teacher.

In the above sentence the underlined part is called relative clause.

The word “who” is called relative pronoun.

There are three kinds of relative clauses:

1. Defining relative clause
2. Non Defining relative clause
3. Connective relative clause

1. Defining Relative Clause:

These clauses give the information that you need to understand the sentence. If you take away the relative clause from the sentence doesn’t make sense.

Note: There are no commas in defining clause.

E.g. The man who is a famous poet in Andhra Pradesh is our English teacher.

In the above sentence the part:

“Who is a famous poet in Andhra Pradesh” is called the defining relative clause. Because this clause defines the noun “the man”. Without this clause doesn’t make any sense. It is called the Defining Relative Clause.

Defining Relative Clauses usually follow the + noun but they can also be used with a/ an +noun, plural nouns without “the” and the pronouns all, none, anybody, somebody and those.

Clauses following a/an + noun, plural noun, plural noun without “the” and somebody/ someone/ something sometimes define their noun/ pronoun indirectly. In this case the noun/ pronoun is usually the object of a verb or preposition.

E.g. I met someone who said she knew you.

The book is about a boy who falls in love with…………

Normally relative clauses following the + noun should be placed directly with their noun/ pronoun.

E.g. He was annoyed by something that you had said.

The noise that my son made woke everybody up.

Relative Pronouns used in defining relative clauses are:

	Subject	Object	Possessive
For persons	Who/ that	Whom/ who/ that	whose
For things	Which / that	Which / that	Whose / which

1. Relative pronouns for persons :

1. Subject can be who/ that:

1. The man who stole your purse has been arrested.

2. The girl who won the gold medal is our student.

3. Everyone that / who knew me liked me very much.

4. Nobody that / who watched IPL match will ever forget it.

Note: “That” is possible alternative after nobody, everyone and all.

2. Object of a Verb: whom / who / that.

The object form “whom” is very formal. Generally in English we use “who” or “that” ; “that” is more usual than;”who”.

In this case object pronoun can be omitted.

E.g. 1. The woman whom I saw told me to come back today.

The woman who I saw. [Relative pronoun omitted]

2. The teachers who he employs are always complaining about their pay.

The teacher he employs. [Relative pronoun omitted]

3. With a preposition Whom or That:

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

E.g. The girl to whom I spoke. But in informal speech it is more usual to move the preposition to the end of the clause.

E.g. The girl who / whom I spoke to.

The girl that I spoke to.

The girl I spoke to….

4. Possessive: whose

E.g. The movie is about a person whose friend trust him.

The students whose marks are below average can meet the principal.

B.Relative Pronouns for Things:

i. Subject: which / that

“Which” is more formal.

E.g. This is the failure which caused such a sensation.

The book which / that I bought is very good.

ii. Object of Verb: which / that

The book which I bought was missed.

Note: Which is generally not used after all, everything, little, much, none and after superlatives.

All the guavas that fall are eaten by the monkeys.

This is the best book that I ever read.

iii. Object of a preposition:

Normally a preposition comes before the relative pronoun. But it is more common to move it the end of the clause.

The person for whom I am looking is coming.

The person who I am looking for is coming.

The person I am looking for is coming.

iv. Possessive:

Whose + a clause

But with + a phrase is more formal.

1. A building whose walls were made of bricks. [ with a clause ]
2. A building with brick walls. [ with a phrase ]

Relative Adverbs

When, where, why.

Note: “when” can be replaced by “in” / “on” “which” as it is used of time.

E.g. The year when he was born.

The year in which he was born.

The day when I reached.

The day on which I reached.

“Where” can be replaced by “in / at which” as it is used of place.

The school where my son is studying.

The school in / at which my son is studying.

“Why” can be replaced with “which”.

The reason for which she refused is….

The reason why she refused is……

II. Non - Defining Relative Clauses

Non-defining relative clauses do not try to identify which person or thing we mean. We already know which person or thing is meant. We use these clauses to give extra information.

My father, who works in a bank, may be able to help you with these forms.

Non-defining clauses are separated by commas from the rest of the sentence in written English, often one at the beginning of the clause and the other at the end.

These are placed with nouns which are defined already. They don’t define the nouns but give extra information about them.

The pronoun can never be omitted.

The construction more formal in written.

In non-defining clauses we use who, whom for people and which for things, but no that. These relative pronouns cannot be omitted.

I’m grateful to Paul, who helped us when we moved house.

It was not easy to break up with Paul, whom she had known for years.

When we went to Beijing, we visited the Great Wall, which was magnificent.

I gave her my telephone number, which she wrote down on her notebook.

The blue diamond, which was displayed in a special case, was said to be worth over a million dollars.

Relative Pronouns used in Non defining relative clauses are:

	Subject	Object	Possessive
For persons	Who	Whom/ who	whose
For things	Which	Which	Whose / which

In conversation, we often use ‘who’ instead of ‘whom’.

It was not easy to break up with Paul, who she had known for years.

In formal style, we use the preposition + whom/which to introduce a non-defining clause. In informal style, we often put the preposition at the end of the clause and we use ‘who’ instead of whom.

Paul, with whom we were travelling, acted as our guide.

Paul, who we were travelling with, acted as our guide.

His new car, in which we were travelling, broke down on the way.

His new car, which we were travelling in, broke down on the way.

We can also use whose, where and when in non-defining clauses.

Paul, whose sister is my classmate, is leaving for Australia tomorrow.

We took a no. 75K bus to Bride Pool Waterfalls, where we had a barbecue.

That September, when we met, was one of the wettest on record.

We can use “which” to stand for a whole sentence, not just a noun that goes before it.

Susan failed the test, which surprised us all.

Compare: Susan failed the test. This/The fact that she failed the test surprised us all.

III. Connective Relative Clauses

Sometimes a relative clause does not describe a person or thing. It just helps to make the story go on further.

I met Tom, who told me that Ann had returned to Hong Kong.

Compare: I met Tom, and he told me that Ann had returned to Hong Kong.

The pronouns used in this clause are “Who”, “Whom”, “Whose” and “Which”.

Commas are used in this clause like non defining clauses.

They are usually placed after the object of the main verb.

E.g. I told Joseph, who said it wasn’t her business.

After the Preposition + Noun

E.g. I gave the letter to Ajay, who gave it to Arun.

Note: They can also be replaced by and / but + he / she. Etc.

E.g. I gave the letter to Ajay and he gave it to Arun.

She ate sweets and they made her fat.

Note: We can use one / two, etc., few / several / some, etc., + of + which / whom.

E.g. They bought a dozen bananas, six of which rotten when exposed to air.

The train crashed into a queue of people at the railway crossing, several of whom had to be sent to the hospital for treatment.

• Sometimes “Which” stands for a whole clause.

E.g. He refused to give his support, which annoyed his friends.

Ms. Sravanthi is an expert in writing beautiful poems, which made the other poets jealous.

Note: In using relative pronoun “What” and connective relative “Which”

What - Relative pronoun

Which - Connective relative

“Which” refers to a word or group of words in the preceding sentence.

“What” doesn’t refer back to anything.

“Which” is the subject.

E.g. She said she had no money, which was not true.

Some of the text books were not released, which made the students more worried.