12/10/2014

EnglishGrammar|LearnEnglish|BritishCouncil|relativeclauses

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relativeclauses

1.Therelativepronouns:
Therelativepronouns(/node/1295/)are:

Subject

Object

Possessive

who

whom,who

whose

which

which

whose

that

that

Weusewhoandwhomforpeople,andwhichforthings.
Weusethatforpeopleorthings.
Weuserelativepronouns(/node/1295/)tointroducerelativeclauses,whichtellusmoreaboutpeopleandthings.
2.Relativeclausestopostmodifyanoun
Weuserelativeclausestopostmodifyanountomakeclearwhichpersonorthingwearetalkingabout.Intheseclauseswecanhavetherelativepronounwho,which,
whoseorthat
assubject(seeClausesSentencesandPhrases)
Isntthatthewomanwholivesacrosstheroadfromyou?
Thepolicesaidtheaccidentthathappenedlastnightwasunavoidable
Thenewspaperreportedthatthetigerwhichkilleditskeeperhasbeenputdown.
WARNING:
Therelativepronounisthesubjectoftheclause.
Wedonotrepeatthesubject:
*Thewomanwho[she]livesacrosstheroad
*Thetigerwhich[it]killeditskeeper
asobjectofaclause(seeClauses,SentencesandPhrases)
Haveyouseenthosepeoplewhowemetonholiday?
Youshouldntbelieveeverythingthatyoureadinthenewspaper.
ThehousethatwerentedinLondonwasfullyfurnished.
ThefoodwasdefinitelythethingwhichIenjoyedmostaboutourholiday.
Sometimesweusewhominsteadofwhowhentherelativepronounistheobject:
Haveyouseenthosepeoplewhomwemetonholiday?
Whentherelativepronounisobjectofitsclausewesometimesleaveitout:
Haveyouseenthosepeoplewemetonholiday?
Youshouldntbelieveeverythingyoureadinthenewspaper.
ThehousewerentedinLondonwasfullyfurnished.
ThefoodwasdefinitelythethingIenjoyedmostaboutourholiday.
WARNING:
Therelativepronounistheobjectoftheclause.
Wedonotrepeattheobject:
Haveyouseenthosepeoplewhowemet[them]onholiday?
Thehousethatwerented[it]inLondonwasfullyfurnished.
ThefoodwasdefinitelythethingIenjoyed[it]mostaboutourholiday.
asobjectofapreposition.Whentherelativepronounistheobjectofaprepositionweusuallyputtheprepositionaftertheverb.:
Youweretalkingtoawoman>>>Whowasthewomanwhoyouweretalkingto?
Myparentsliveinthathouse>>>Thatsthehousethatmyparentslivein.
Youweretalkingaboutabook.Ihaventreadit.>>>Ihaventreadthebookwhichyouweretalkingabout.

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Whentherelativepronounistheobjectofaprepositionweusuallyleaveitout:
Whowasthewomanyouweretalkingto?
Thatsthehousemyparentslivein.
Sometimesweusewhominsteadofwho:
Whowasthatwomanwhomyouweretalkingabout.
Whenweusewhomorwhichtheprepositionsometimescomesatthebeginningoftheclause:
Ihaventreadthebookaboutwhichyouweretalking.
Wecanusethepossessiveform,whose,inarelativeclause:
Ialwaysforgetthatwomansname>>>ThatsthewomanwhosenameIalwaysforget.
ImetamanwhosebrotherworksinMoscow.

3.Timesandplaces
Wealsousewhenwithtimesandwherewithplacestomakeitclearwhichtimeorplacewearetalkingabout:
Englandwontheworldcupin1996.Itwastheyearwhenwegotmarried.
Iremembermytwentiethbirthday.Itwasthedaywhenthetsunamihappened.
Doyouremembertheplacewherewecaughtthetrain?
StratforduponAvonisthetownwhereShakespearewasborn.
...butwecanleaveoutthewordwhen:
Englandwontheworldcupin1996.Itwastheyearwegotmarried.
Iremembermytwentiethbirthday.Itwasthedaythetsunamihappened.
4.Givingadditionalinformation
Weusewho,whom,whose,andwhich(butnotthat)inrelativeclausestotellusmoreaboutapersonorthing.
assubject(seeClauses,SentencesandPhrases)
Myuncle,whowasborninHongKong,livedmostofhislifeoverseas.
IhavejustreadOrwells1984,whichisoneofthemostfrighteningbookseverwritten.
WARNING:
Therelativepronounisthesubjectoftheclause.
Wedonotrepeatthesubject:
Myuncle,who[he]wasborninHongKong,livedmostofhislifeoverseas.
IhavejustreadOrwells1984,which[it]isoneofthemostfrighteningbookseverwritten.
asobject(seeClauses,SentencesandPhrases)
WesawthelatestHarryPotterfilm,whichwereallyenjoyed.
MyfavouriteactorisMarlonBrando,whoIsawinOntheWaterfront.
wecanusewhominsteadofwhoasobject:
MyfavouriteactorwasMarlonBrando,whomIsawinOntheWaterfront.
WARNING:
Therelativepronounistheobjectoftheclause.
Wedonotrepeattheobject:
WesawthelatestHarryPotterfilm,whichwereallyenjoyed[it].
MyfavouriteactorisMarlonBrando,whoIsaw[him]inOntheWaterfront.
asobjectofaclause:
HefinallymetPaulMcCartney,whomhehadalwaysadmired.
WearegoingbacktoVenice,whichwefirstvisitedthirtyyearsago.
Wecanalsousewhoastheobject.
HefinallymetPaulMcCartney,whohehadalwaysadmired.
WARNING:
Therelativepronounistheobjectoftheclause.
Wedonotrepeattheobject:
HefinallymetPaulMcCartney,whomhehadalwaysadmired[him].
WearegoingbacktoVenice,whichwefirstvisited[it]thirtyyearsago.

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asobjectofapreposition:
HedecidedtotelephoneMrs.Jackson,whohehadreadaboutinthenewspaper.
Thatstheprogrammewhichwelistenedtolastnight.
Wesometimesusewhominsteadofwho:
HedecidedtotelephoneMrs.Jackson,whomhehadreadaboutinthenewspaper.
Theprepositionsometimescomesinfrontoftherelativepronounwhomorwhich:
HedecidedtotelephoneMrs.Jackson,aboutwhomhehadreadinthenewspaper.
Thatstheprogrammetowhichwelistenedlastnight.

5.Quantifiersandnumberswithrelativepronouns
Weoftenusequantifiersandnumberswithrelativepronouns:
manyofwhommostofwhomoneofwhichnoneofwhom
someofwhichlotsofwhomtwoofwhichetc.
Wecanusethemassubject,objectorobjectofapreposition.
Shehasthreebrotherstwoofwhomareinthearmy.
Ireadthreebookslastweek,oneofwhichIreallyenjoyed.
Thereweresomegoodprogrammesontheradio,noneofwhichIlistenedto.
6.Using"which"togivemoreinformation
Weoftenusetherelativepronounwhichtosaysomethingaboutaclause:
Hewasusuallylate,whichalwaysannoyedhisfather.
Wevemissedourtrain,whichmeanswemaybelate.

(http://gamedata.bcdev.org.uk/d/ReorderingHorizontal_NDQ2Mg==.xml)

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(http://gamedata.bcdev.org.uk/d/Matching_NDQ2Mw==.xml)

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Like

302

COMMENTS

(/en/users/sawjustine)repliedon22November,201408:47BurmaPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/68453#COMMENT68453)
SawJustine

(/en/users/sawjustine)
Hi
Thereissomethingiwannaknowaboutbelowusage
"20monitorthatsimportedfromBluRay"
Amirightornot?
Iamlookingfrowardyourreply.

(/en/users/peterm)repliedon22November,201422:04PolandPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/68483#COMMENT68483)
PeterM

(/en/users/peterm)
HiSawJustine,
Thesentenceiscorrectgrammaticallytherelativeclauseisfineapartfromthelackof'a'atthebeginning.However,thevocabularydoesnotseemto
makesense.BluRayisatechnologyforreadingdiscs,soI'mnotsurehowyoucould'import'amonitorfromit.Itishardtobesure,however,without
knowingthecontextofthesentence.
Bestwishes,

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Peter
TheLearnEnglishTeam

(/en/users/jonwilton26)repliedon6November,201420:11UnitedKingdom(GreatBritain)PERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/67842#COMMENT67842)
jonwilton26

(/en/users/jonwilton26)
IfeelIshouldknowtheanswertothisbutIamconfusedbythedifferencebetween:'Ialwaysgotoshopswheretheclothesarecheap'and'Igotoshopswhich
sellcheapclothes'.Ashopisaplace,generallyspeaking,butthesentenceshavetobe'where'inthefirst,and'whichorthat'inthesecondandIcan'tworkout
why.It'sdrivingmeabitbananas.Canyouhelp?

(/en/users/peterm)repliedon7November,201406:49PolandPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/67852#COMMENT67852)
PeterM

(/en/users/peterm)
Hellojonwilton26,
Thedistinctionhereisquitesubtle.'Where'isaddinginformationaboutalocation'which'isaddinginformationaboutthething(thenounshops)being
discussed.Itispossibletouse'which'inthesecondsentencebutyouneedtoadd'in'toit,whichIthinkclarifiesthedistinciton:'which'means'theshop',
while'where'alreadyreferstoalocation:
Igotoshopsinwhichtheysellcheapclothes.
Igotoshopsinwhichcheapclothesaresold.
Noticealsotheverbformhere:wecannotuse'where'asthesubjectoftheverb'sell'butmusthaveanothersubjectthere,oruseapassiveform.Thisis
because'where'isarelativeadverbratherthanarelativepronounlike'which'.Bothcanintroducerelativeclauses,butonlytherelativepronouncanbethe
subjectoftheverb.Theotherrelativeadverbsarewhen(fortime)andwhy(forpurpose).
Ihopethatclarifiesitforyou.
Bestwishes,

Peter
TheLearnEnglishTeam

(/en/users/jeraldinemolleda)repliedon8October,201405:01VenezuelaPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/66639#COMMENT66639)
Jeraldine_molleda

(/en/users/jeraldinemolleda)
Helloteacher,
Ihadproblemswiththeexcercise3and12.Idon'tgettheuseof'whose'andalsoI'mconfusedwiththefollowingrelativepronouns'who,whomandwhose',soIf
youcouldexplainmeI'llbegratefulwithyou!

(/en/users/peterm)repliedon8October,201414:07PolandPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/66656#COMMENT66656)
PeterM

(/en/users/peterm)
HelloJeraldine,
'Whose'isarelativepronounusedwhentalkingaboutsomethingwhichbelongstosomeone.Inquestion3,itisthewoman'spartyandsowesay'...the
womanwhoseparty...'
'Who'and'whom'arerelativepronounsusedwhentalkingaboutpeople.Wecanuse'who'whenreferringtoboththesubjectandtheobjectintheclause
'whom'canonlybeusedtotalkabouttheobjectandislessoftenusedinmodernEnglish,soundingalittleformalandoldfashioned.
Bestwishes,

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EnglishGrammar|LearnEnglish|BritishCouncil|relativeclauses
Peter
TheLearnEnglishTeam

(/en/users/jeraldinemolleda)repliedon9October,201403:24VenezuelaPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/66695#COMMENT66695)
Jeraldine_molleda

(/en/users/jeraldinemolleda)
Thanksfortheexplanationaboutmydoubt,Teacher.

(/en/users/violetabg)repliedon2October,201401:06MexicoPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/66406#COMMENT66406)
(/en/users/violetabg)
violetabg

Mytextbookhasthesetwosentences:
1."Idon'thaveanyphotosofmyfirstcar,whichisagreatpity"Whyisnotpossibletosay:"Idon'thaveanyphotosofmyfirstcar,thatisagreatpity"Iknowthefirst
sentenceisthecorrectonebutsomeofmystudentscameoutwiththatquestionandIdidn'tknowhowtoexplainittothem.
2."Igrewupneartheocean,whichisprobablywhyIlovegoingtothebeach!
Andthisiswhentheytellme,thisisconfusing,whendoyouuseWHICH?Idon'trememberhowIearnedit,soIneedyoutohelpmegivethemagoodandeasy
explanation,PLEASE!!

(/en/users/peterm)repliedon4October,201411:23PolandPERMALINK
(/EN/COMMENT/66487#COMMENT66487)
PeterM

(/en/users/peterm)

Hellovioletabg,
Yourfirstsentenceisanexampleofanondefiningrelativeclause(providingadditionalbutnotstrictlynecessaryinformation),andwecanuse'that'asa
relativepronounonlyindefiningrelativeclauses.
Yoursecondsentenceisalsoanondefiningrelativeclause,andso'that'isalsonotpossiblehere.'Which'isusedbecauseitreferstoathing(thefactof
growingupneartheocean)ratherthanaperson(wewoulduse'who'),aplace(wewoulduse'where'),atime(wewoulduse'when'),apossessive(we
woulduse'whose')etc.
Togivethereasonforsomethingthephrase'whichiswhy...'isverycommon.
Youcanfindmoreinformationaboutdefiningrelativeclauseshere(http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar
reference/relativeclausesdefiningrelativeclauses)andaboutnondefiningrelativeclauseshere

(http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammarreference/relativeclausesnondefiningrelativeclauses).
Bestwishes,

Peter
TheLearnEnglishTeam

tinota(/en/users/tinota)repliedon23September,201420:13Italy PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/66034#COMMENT
(/en/users/tinota) 66034)

Helloeveryone,
Ididn'tunderstandthemeaningofthissentence"Hewholivesbythegundiesbythegun".
Arether2missingcommas?"He,wholivesbythegun,diesbythegun"soundsbettertome

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