2C1 Relative and participle clauses

2C1

RELATIVE CLAUSES AND PARTICIPLE CLAUSES

By Mapi García

CONTENT

WHAT ARE RELATIVE CLAUSES?

3a

WHAT ARE PARTICIPLE CLAUSES

Participle clauses as adjectives.

3b

DEFININING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Participle clauses as reduced relative clauses.

3c

2a

Participle clauses in adverb clauses.

Defining relative clauses

3d

2b

Non-defining relative clauses

Participle clauses in written English.

3e

RELATIVE CLAUSES PRACTICE

Participle clauses with their own subject.

What are relative clauses?

Relative clauses identify or give information about someone or something in the main clause. They are introduced by relative pronouns, such as that, which or who. Peter was the teacher who taught us about World War II. The relative pronoun is the subject or object of the relative clause, so we don't repeat the noun from the main clause or introduce a personal pronoun to replace it: Peter was the teacher who he taught us about World War II.

2a DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES 2b NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

2a DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

2a

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

They are an essential part of the meaning of a sentence and therefore they cannot be left out. They define exactly who or what we are talking about. That is the woman (who/that) you were telling me about. Who/that is used for people and which/that are used for things. The relative pronoun can be dropped when it defines the object of the clause. That is when you have another subject after the relative pronoun: The doctor who/that helped me most was Dr Clark. (Subject) The doctor (who/that) I found most helpful was Dr Clark. (Object) The treatment which/that helped me most was acupuncture. (Subject) The treatment (which/that) I liked best was acupuncture. (Object)

2a

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

THAT is usually used as a subject after the following: SUPERLATIVES, ALL, EVERY(THING), SOME(THING), ANY(THING), NO(THING) AND ONLY. He wrote some of the best poetry that's ever been written. All that's needed is a little more time. Don't take anything that's valuable. The only thing that matters is that you are safe. And in this type of sentences notice we often omit that when it is the object. He's one of the nicest people I know. (the nicest people that I know) Is there antyning I can do to help? (anything that I can do to help?)

2a

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Important

There are no commas before or after defining relative clauses when written, and no pauses when spoken.

That can be used instead of who or which.

Prepositions can come either before relative pronouns or at the end of the relative clause. In spoken English this is much more common (and to drop the pronoun too): This is the boy about whom you were asking me. This is the boy you were asking me about. I like the car about which you were talking. I like the car you were talking about.

2a

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Important

In Definining relative clauses when can be left out: Can you tell me the exact time (when) you hope to arrive?

In defining relative clauses where cannot be left out unless we add a preposition. That's the hotel where we are staying. That's the hotel we're staying at.

Why can be used to introduce Defining relative clauses after the word reason. It can be left out. Do you remember the reason why we are arguing? Do you remember why we are arguing?

2a

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Important

Whose is the possessive form of who and cannot be left out. There's the woman whose son was killed recently.

What is used as a relative pronoun instead of the thing that in some sentences. It can't be used after a noun. Has he told you what's worrying her? I have to do what I believe is right.

2a

WHATEVER, WHOEVER, WHICHEVER

These are used to talk about things or people that are indefinite or unknown. In Defining relative clauses we can modify the pronoun or adverb with -ever to give the meaning of anyting, anyone, anywhere...

She'll enjoy eating whatever you cook.

Whoever wins will go to Paris.

Whichever one of you who broke the vase will have to buy another one. (whichever because there are alternatives)

You can put the photo wherever you think it looks best.

2b NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

2b

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

They add extra information of secondary importance, and can be left out of a sentence. Mrs Bottomley, who was an extremely mean person while she was alive, has left all her money to a cats' home. Non-defining relative clauses are mainly found in written English. In spoken English they sound rather formal, and can easily be expressed by simpler sentences. Did you know Mrs Bottomley has left all her money to a cats' home? She was such a mean person.

2a

NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Important

There are commas around non-defining relative clauses when written, and pauses before and after them when spoken.

That can never be used instead of who or which.

Prepositions can come at the end of non-defining relative clauses, but in a formal style they are usually put before the relative pronoun. The lecturer spoke for two hours on the subject of Weingarten's Theory of Market Forces, which none of us had ever heard of. Formal: The privatization of all industry, to which this government is deeply committed, is not universally popular.

2a

NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Important

When and where cannot be left out in non-defining relative clauses. We go swimming after 5:00, when everyone else has gone home. He shops in Oxford, where his sister lives.

Which can be used in non-defining relative clauses to refer to the whole of the preceding clause. We always put a comma before which. These are called Comment clauses. He passed the exam, which surprised everyone. The hideous building won't be knocked down until next year, which is quite disapointing.

2a

NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Important

Whose is the possessive form of who and cannot be left out. ABC Airways, whose fares across the Atlantic were lower than anybody else's, has just declared itself bankrupt Whose can be used to talk about things too, in particular when we are talking about towns or countries, and organisations: The book is based on Africa, whose wildlife is amazing. He works for Unicef, whose chairman is from Australia.

2a

NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Important

Whose can come after a preposition in a relative clause. However, it is more natural to put the preposition at the end of the clause in less formal contexts and in spoken English: We are grateful to Mrs García, in whose house we have been living for years (or whose house we have been living in for 2 years)

2a

NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Modifying relative pronouns.

In non-defining relative clauses we can add extra information about the whole or a particular number of things or people: of which, of whom after words such as: all, both, each, many, most, neither, none, part, some, a number (one, two...) and superlatives.

2a

NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Examples: The house was burgled by a group of men, ten of whom were journalists. The ice caps are melting because of a number of factors, most of which human beings have control over.

2a

NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Other expressions with relative pronouns

We can also use: at which point, at which time, by which point/time, during which time and in which case at the beginning of a non-relative clause:

The next World Cup is in two years, by which time Peter will be 18.

It may be sunny next weekend, in which case we will go to the beach.

He will have the sling removed three weeks after the operation, at which point the doctor will be able to say if the operation was successful.

RELATIVE CLAUSE PRACTICE

LET'S PRACTISE

Are these sentences correct or incorrect?

1. The person who got away with the crime was never caught.

2. The medication, that wore off after a short time, required another dose.

3. The police, which cordoned off the crime scene, are investigating the incident.

4. The room they sealed off contained hazardous material.

5. The event they called off due to bad weather has been rescheduled.

6. The team, which had to burn the midnight oil to meet the dealine, completed the project successfully ahead of schedule.

LET'S PRACTISE

Are these sentences correct or incorrect?

1. The person who got away with the crime was never caught.

2. The medication, that wore off after a short time, required another dose.

which

3. The police, which cordoned off the crime scene, are investigating the incident.

who

4. The room they sealed off contained hazardous material.

5. The event they called off due to bad weather has been rescheduled.

who

6. The team, which had to burn the midnight oil to meet the dealine, completed the project successfully ahead of schedule.

LET'S PRACTISE

Combine the sentences, using relative clauses, as in the example. Omit the pronoun if possible.

0. Craig's parents made him promise to be home by midnight. They are strict.

Craig's parents, ___________________________________________________

1. The boss refused to discuss our grievances. I think that's outrageous.

The boss _________________________________________________________

2. Sunil's parents made him marry a distant relative. He'd never met her before.

Sunil's parents _________________________________________________________

3. One of my brothers lives in Los Angeles. I'm going to stay with him.

I'm going to stay _______________________________________________________.

LET'S PRACTISE

ANSWERS

0. Craig's parents made him promise to be home by midnight. They are strict.

Craig's parents, who are very strict, made him promise to be home by midnight.

1. The boss refused to discuss our grievances. I think that's outrageous.

The boss refused to discuss our grievances, which I think is outrageous.

2. Sunil's parents made him marry a distant relative. He'd never met her before.

Sunil's parents made him marry a distant relative (who/that) he'd never met before.

3. One of my brothers lives in Los Angeles. I'm going to stay with him.

I'm going to stay with my brother who/that lives in Los Angeles.

LET'S PRACTISE

Combine the sentences, using relative clauses, as in the example. Omit the pronoun if possible.

4. We bought lots of furniture at IKEA. Some of it wouldn´t fit in the car so we asked the shop to deliver those pieces on Friday.

On Friday, IKEA is going to deliver ___________________________________

5. Sue had seen a great dress in a magazine. She spent hours at the shops trying to find it.

Sue spent hours ___________________________________________________

6. Samantha Davis has started her own Internet company. She used to work in our London office.

Samantha Davis, _______________________________________________________

LET'S PRACTISE

ANSWERS

4. We bought lots of furniture at IKEA. Some of it wouldn´t fit in the car so we asked the shop to deliver those pieces on Friday.

On Friday, IKEA is going to deliver the pieces of furniture we bought which/that wouldn't fit in the car.

5. Sue had seen a great dress in a magazine. She spent hours at the shops trying to find it.

Sue spent hours at the shops trying to find a great dress (which/that) she'd seen in a magazine.

6. Samantha Davis has started her own Internet company. She used to work in our London office.

Samantha Davis, who used to work in our office in London, has started her own Internet company.

WHAT ARE PARTICIPLE CLAUSES?

Participle clauses - are very common in written English. - They are used instead of full adverbial clauses because they use fewer words. - They allow us to express condition, reason, cause, result or time. Ex: After she had finished the exam, she felt very happy. Participle clause: Having finished the exam, she felt very happy. Ex: As she didn´t know where the theater was, she asked for directions. Participle clause: Not knowing where the theatre was, she asked for ...

- Notice We usually use a comma to separate the participle clause from the main clause: Working long hours in her new factory, Julia had little time for leisure activities. Weakened by decades of economic downturns, Greece faced a severe financial crisis in the early 2010s. Having got dressed, he slowly went downstairs. - Participle clauses have active or passive forms but they do not have a tense. Their time reference is usually clear from the verb in the main clause: Not having a car, I won't be able to pick Julia up from the airport tomorrow. Not having a car, I wasn´t able to pick Julia up from the airport yesterday.

Participle clauses - These clauses use three different participle forms to give more information about someone or something in the main clause: present participle: living past participle: broken perfect participle: having read

Present participle: refer to the present or past.

Being such a great singer, she didn´t have problems to find a job. (past)

Talking to you, I always feel better. (present)

Past participle: usually replace a sentence with a verb in the passive form.

Impressed by the painting, John praised the artist. (John was impressed by...

Perfect participle: to emphasise that an action was previous to another one

Not having eaten for hours, I was desperate to find a restaurant.

Having been offered a promotion, she decided to stay in the company. (since she had been offered ... ) Having been + past participle = alternative for since-clause (reason)

IMPORTANT!

The subject of the main clause acts as the subject of the participle clause:

Moaning with pain, the victim was examined by a young doctor. (Who was moaning? The victim.)

Compare:

Moaning with pain, a young doctor examined the victim.

This would mean that the young doctor was moaning and not the victim.

Participle clauses

These participle clauses can be used as:

3a

3b

3c

As adverb clauses to express these ideas: at the same time, because, if, after...

As reduced relative clauses AFTER A NOUN.

As adjectives

3a

PARTICIPLE CLAUSES as adjectives

PRESENT PARTICIPLES: describe an action which is still happening.

He dived into the sea to save the drowning child.

They watched the burning forest.

PAST PARTICIPLES: describe the result of an action that has happened.

She looked at the broken chair.

The completed statue looked very lifelike.

3b

PARTICIPLE CLAUSES as reduced relative clauses AFTER A NOUN.

Participle clauses are an efficient way of giving more information about a noun and can often be used to replace a defining relative clause.

In reduced relative clauses we put the noun we are describing in front of the participle, and we do not use commas to separate the clause from the rest of the sentence in reduced defining relative clauses, but we do use commas in reduced non-defining relative clauses:

The man who lives upstairs is very noisy.

The man living upstairs is very noisy. (active participle phrase)

The cash which was stolen in the raid was recovered.

The cash stolen in the raid was recovered. (passive participle clause.)

The college, founded in the nineteenth century, became a university in the 1930s.

3c

PARTICIPLE in adverb clauses.

3d

OTHER USES OF PARTICIPLE CLAUSES in written English.

In written English an -ing participle clause often describes the setting or background.:

Living in Los Angeles, Bran was one of those ever optimistic movie wannabes.

Standing alone in the desert, the huge pyramid dominated the landscape.

In formal written English the participle clause can have a subject which is related to the subject of the main clause, but which isn't exactly the same:

Horns locked, the two stags struggle for supremacy (The horns belong to the stags)

I crouched in the alleyway, my eyes straining in the darkness. (My eyes are part of me)

3e

PARTICIPLE CLAUSES with their own subject

A participle clause can have its own subject. This happens most often in a rather formal style.

Nobody having any more to say, the meeting was closed.

All the money having been spent, we started looking for work.

Hands held high, the dancers circle to the right.

SOURCE

1 Headway Advanced Student's book

2 English Hub C1 EOI

https://test-english.com/GRAMMAR-POINTS/B2/PARTICIPLE-CLAUSES-/

4 Practical English Usage. Michael Swan.

5 My own examples

By Mapi García