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:
Defining
relative clause
Non
Defining relative clause
Connective
relative clause
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
|
Relative
pronouns for persons
:
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.
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]
The
teachers who he employs are always complaining about their pay.
The
teacher he employs. [Relative pronoun omitted]
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….
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.
A
building whose walls were made of bricks. [ with a clause ]
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.
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.
