DEFINING
RELATIVE CLAUSES
As the name suggests, these clauses
give essential information to define or identify the person or thing we are
talking about. Obviously, this is only necessary if there is more than one
person or thing involved.
Example
- Dogs that like cats are very unusual.
In this sentence we understand that
there are many dogs, but it is clear that we are only talking about the ones that
like cats.
Punctuation
- Commas are not used in defining relative clauses.
Relative pronouns
The following relative pronouns are
used in defining relative clauses:
|
|
Person
|
Thing
|
Place
|
Time
|
Reason
|
|
Subject
|
who/that
|
which/that
|
|||
|
Object
|
who/whom/that/
|
which/that/
|
where
|
when
|
why
|
|
Possessive
|
whose
|
whose
|
|
|
|
Notes:
- The relative pronoun stands in place of a noun.
This noun usually appears earlier in
the sentence:
|
The woman
|
who/that
|
spoke at the meeting
|
was very knowledgeable.
|
|
Noun, subject of
main clause |
relative pronoun referring to 'the
woman', subject of 'spoke'
|
verb + rest of relative clause
|
verb + rest of main clause
|
- Who, whom and which can be replaced by that. This is very common in spoken English.
- The relative pronoun can be omitted when it is the object of the clause
|
The woman
|
that
|
the man loved
|
was living in New York.
|
|
Noun, subject of main clause
|
relative pronoun, referring to
'the woman', object of 'loved'
|
verb + rest of relative clause
|
verb + rest of main clause.
|
(You can usually decide whether a
relative pronoun is an object because it is normally followed by another
subject + verb.)
4. Whose is used
for things as well as for people.
Examples
- The man whose car was stolen.
- A tree whose leaves have fallen.
5. Whom is very
formal and is only used in written English. You can use who/that, or
omit the pronoun completely :
- The doctor whom/who/that/ I was hoping to see wasn't on duty.
6.
That normally follows words like something, anything, everything,
nothing, all, and superlatives.
Examples
- There's something that you should know.
- It was the best film that I've ever seen.
(source : http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/relative_clauses_form.php)
