Relative Clauses
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RELATIVE CLAUSES: A SUMMARY
(Reference: Collins Cobuild Student’s Gramar: 1991, Harper Collins, London)
• A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause embedded inside a noun phrase.
• It typically post-modifies the head noun of a noun phrase.
• It gives additional information to more narrowly define the head noun.
• It contains a verb which may be either finite or non-finite.
• A relative clause may or may not be introduced by a relative pronoun (that, which, who, etc)
(see rules below)
1) Use ‘who’ or ‘that’ to introduce a relative clause when referring to people.
Mele is the girl [who won the competition].
She knew the man [that was killed in the accident].
Use ‘that’ or ‘which’ to introduce a relative clause when referring to things.
Here is the book [that was so famous].
Give me the knife[ which is on the table].
2) ‘which’, ‘that’ and ‘who’ can refer to
a) the subject of the verb in the relative clause:
The woman [who is washing clothes in the yard] is my sister. Subject: the woman
(The woman is my sister/The woman is washing clothes in the yard)
Mele gave me a book [which was a best-selling mystery]. Subject: a book
(Mele gave me a book/The book was a best-selling mystery)
I found the cat [that was lying on the mat] to be friendly. Subject: the cat
(I found the cat to be friendly/The cat was lying on the mat)
b) the object of the verb in the relative clause:
The woman [who I saw washing clothes in the yard] is my sister. Object: the woman
(The woman was washing clothes in the yard/I saw the woman)
Mele gave me a book [which she really enjoyed reading]. Object: a book
(Mele gave me a book/She really enjoyed reading the book)
The house [that I wanted to buy] had already been sold. Object: the house...
(Reference: Collins Cobuild Student’s Gramar: 1991, Harper Collins, London)
• A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause embedded inside a noun phrase.
• It typically post-modifies the head noun of a noun phrase.
• It gives additional information to more narrowly define the head noun.
• It contains a verb which may be either finite or non-finite.
• A relative clause may or may not be introduced by a relative pronoun (that, which, who, etc)
(see rules below)
1) Use ‘who’ or ‘that’ to introduce a relative clause when referring to people.
Mele is the girl [who won the competition].
She knew the man [that was killed in the accident].
Use ‘that’ or ‘which’ to introduce a relative clause when referring to things.
Here is the book [that was so famous].
Give me the knife[ which is on the table].
2) ‘which’, ‘that’ and ‘who’ can refer to
a) the subject of the verb in the relative clause:
The woman [who is washing clothes in the yard] is my sister. Subject: the woman
(The woman is my sister/The woman is washing clothes in the yard)
Mele gave me a book [which was a best-selling mystery]. Subject: a book
(Mele gave me a book/The book was a best-selling mystery)
I found the cat [that was lying on the mat] to be friendly. Subject: the cat
(I found the cat to be friendly/The cat was lying on the mat)
b) the object of the verb in the relative clause:
The woman [who I saw washing clothes in the yard] is my sister. Object: the woman
(The woman was washing clothes in the yard/I saw the woman)
Mele gave me a book [which she really enjoyed reading]. Object: a book
(Mele gave me a book/She really enjoyed reading the book)
The house [that I wanted to buy] had already been sold. Object: the house...