Relative Clauses

Subject and object relative clauses and Relative pronouns

Karen/Gaby

What is relative clauses?

- Relative clauses are also called adjective clauses. Like adjectives, relative clauses modify nouns. - These clauses identify, define, or comment on the noun that they follow. - Relative clauses are dependent clauses; they cannot stand alone as independent sentences - Relative clauses usually begin with a relative pronoun (e.g., who, that). The relativepronoun and the modified noun refer to the same thing (e.g., who, that = the author) - Sentences with relative clauses can be thought of as a combination of two sentences, i.e., as a shorter way of saying the same thing.

Subject relative clauses: The relative pronoun takes the place of the subject of the clause (e.g., she). It is followed by a verb. The verb agrees with the noun that the clause modifies. The preposition usually appears at the end of the clause, but can also be put before the relative pronouns which or whom.

Exemples

Info

What is the relative pronouns?

• The relative pronoun who can be used to refer to people and the relative pronoun which can be used to refer to things. That can refer to either people or things. • In subject relative clauses, who is more commonly used to refer to people than that. In all other subject or object relative clauses, that is more common. Which and who usually sound more formal, but are often used in writing. • In object relative clauses, whom can be used instead of who to convey a more formal tone. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce a woman whom I greatly admire. • Object relative clauses with prepositions follow the same rules as object relative clauses. However, when the preposition is placed before the relative pronoun to create a more formal tone, whom or which must be used. The woman to whom the award was given is a great humanitarian.

Restrictive vs. Nonrestrictive Relative Clauses

• This kind of clause (relative) answers the question: Which one? It is used to identify one noun and distinguish it from other similar nouns. The information in the restrictive relative clause is necessary to make the meaning of the sentence clear.• There is another kind of relative clause called a nonrestrictive (or nondefining) relative clause. This kind of clause adds extra information to the noun you are talking about. The information in the clause is not necessary—it can be omitted and the meaning of the sentence is still understandable. These kinds of clauses are less frequently used and occur mainly in writing. • Nonrestrictive relative clauses are used after proper nouns and other specific or unique nouns. My mother, who lives in Texas, … The Model T, which Ford produced from 1908 to 1927, … • Nonrestrictive relative clauses are always offset by commas. They can only be used with the pronouns who, whom, or which. You cannot use that or omit the relative pronoun. x My mother, that lives in Texas, sells real estate. (incorrect) x The Model T, Ford produced from 1908 to 1927, was the first affordable car. (incorrect)

Other relative pronouns

Some object relative clauses can begin with other relative pronouns, (e.g., whose, when, where, why).

Restrictive relative clauses: Whose shows a possessive relationship between the nouns before andafter it. When can be used as a relative pronoun when it follows words like time, month, or year.Where follows words like place, street, city, and situation. You can use why after the noun reason.

Nonrestrictive relative clauses: Whose, when, and where can also be used in these clauses. Unlike their use in restrictive relative clauses, when and where can follow specific times (e.g., last summer) or place names (e.g., Taipei).

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