English also uses free relative clauses, which have no antecedent and can be formed with the pronouns such as what («I like what you’ve done»), and who and whoever.
- Introduction
- Что это такое и как этим пользоваться?
- Bound and free
- Restrictive and non-restrictive
- Finite and non-finite
- What is a Relative Clause?
- 30 Examples of Relative Clause in Sentences
- Restrictive Relative Clauses Examples
- Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses Examples
- Relative Clauses Exercises
- Defining And Non Defining Relative Clauses Exercises
- Gapped relative clause
- Strategies for joining the relative clause to the main clause
- Относительные придаточные
- Относительные местоимения для Relative Clauses
- Who
- Which
- That
- Whom
- Whose
- Типы придаточных относительных предложений в английском языке
- Определяющиепридаточные (Defining Relative Clauses)
- Неопределяющиепридаточные (Non-Defining Relative Clauses)
- Немного грамматических нюансов напоследок
- Variables in the basic relative clause
- Restrictive or non-restrictive relative clauses
- Integrated clauses that are not restrictive
- That or which for non-human antecedents
- Zero relative pronoun
- ‘What’ relative pronoun
- Relative pronoun as the object of a preposition
- That as relativizer instead of relative pronoun
- Что нам говорит правило?
- Types of relative clauses
- Note
- Relative clauses referring to a whole sentence
- Gapless relative clauses
- Relative adverbs
- When
- Where
- Why
- Relative pronouns
- Who / whom
- Leaving out the relative pronoun
- Prepositions in relative clauses
- Когда и как используются who, that, which?
- Nonfinite relative clauses
- Fused relative constructions
Introduction
We use relative clauses to give additional information about a noun, such as a person or a thing.
We can combine (or join) two sentences to make one sentence of two clauses. One of the clauses is the main clause and the other is the subordinate clause (or relative clause).
Что это такое и как этим пользоваться?
Relative clause — или на русском определительное придаточное предложение, — это часть сложного предложения, которое зависит от главного. Оно обычно соединяет два маленьких предложения в одно или просто добавляет новую интересную информацию, чтобы вам было понятнее, давайте посмотрим пример.
I have a mother who works as a doctor. — У меня есть мама, которая работает врачом.
I missed the bus that was going to take me to church. — Я пропустила автобус, который должен был отвезти меня в церковь.
Some adverbial clauses can function as relative clauses, including:
Здравствуйте, мои дорогие читатели.
Когда вы слышите фразу «Relative Clause» — о чем вы думаете? Русские люди, которые не любят захламлять свою голову всякими терминами, не сразу найдутся с ответом. А вот если намекнуть им на слова that, which или who, которые часто встречаются в текстах, они сразу же понимают, о чем пойдет речь.
Да, придаточные предложения, или грамматика relative clauses: — тема сегодняшнего разговора. Я постараюсь самым простым способом рассказать вам, что, как и для чего используется. А также мы посмотрим на перевод и defining words, что используются в этом правиле. В конце обязательно закрепим полученные знания упражнениями.
Bound and free
A bound relative clause, the type most often considered, qualifies an explicit element (usually a noun or noun phrase) appearing in the main clause, and refers back to that element by means of some explicit or implicit device within the relative clause.
Restrictive and non-restrictive
Bound relative clauses may or may not be restrictive. A restrictive relative clause is a relative clause that functions as a restrictive modifier. A non-restrictive relative clause is a relative clause that is not a restrictive relative clause. Whereas a non-restrictive or non-defining relative clause merely provides supplementary information, a restrictive or defining relative clause modifies the meaning of its head word (restricts its possible referent). For example:
In speaking, it is natural to make slight pauses around non-restrictive clauses, and in English this is shown in writing by commas (as in the examples). However, many languages distinguish the two types of relative clauses in this way only in speaking, not in writing. Another difference in English is that only restrictive relative clauses may be introduced with that or use the «zero» relative pronoun (see English relative clauses for details).
A non-restrictive relative clause may have a whole sentence as its antecedent rather than a specific noun phrase; for example:
Here, which refers not to the bed or the cat but to the entire proposition expressed in the main clause, namely the situation of the cat being allowed on the bed.
Finite and non-finite
Relative clauses may be either finite clauses (as in the examples above) or non-finite clauses. An example of a non-finite relative clause in English is the infinitive clause on whom to rely, in the sentence «She is the person on whom to rely».
Ergative–absolutive languages have a similar hierarchy:
This order is called the accessibility hierarchy. If a language can relativize positions lower in the accessibility hierarchy, it can always relativize positions higher up, but not vice versa. For example, Malagasy can relativize only subject and Chukchi only absolutive arguments, whilst Basque can relativize absolutives, ergatives and indirect objects, but not obliques or genitives or objects of comparatives. Similar hierarchies have been proposed in other circumstances, e.g. for pronominal reflexes.
English can relativize all positions in the hierarchy. Here are some examples of the NP and relative clause usage from English:
Some other examples:
Languages that cannot relativize directly on noun phrases low in the accessibility hierarchy can sometimes use alternative voices to «raise» the relevant noun phrase so that it can be relativized. The most common example is the use of applicative voices to relativize obliques, but in such languages as Chukchi antipassives are used to raise ergative arguments to absolutive.
For example, a language that can relativize only subjects could say this:
These languages might form an equivalent sentence by passivization:
These passivized sentences get progressively more ungrammatical in English as they move down the accessibility hierarchy; the last two, in particular, are so ungrammatical as to be almost unparsable by English speakers. But languages with severe restrictions on which roles can be relativized are precisely those that can passivize almost any position, and hence the last two sentences would be normal in those languages.
Modern grammars may use the accessibility hierarchy to order productions—e.g. in Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar the hierarchy corresponds to the order of elements on the subcat list, and interacts with other principles in explanations of binding facts. The hierarchy also figures in
Lexical Functional Grammar, where it is known as Syntactic Rank or the Relational Hierarchy.
Welcome to our article on relative clauses! In this article, we will explore the concept of relative clauses and provide 30 examples, as well as some exercises for you to practice your understanding. Relative clauses are a vital part of the English language and are used to combine two related thoughts into one sentence. They can be an important way to add detail and provide more information in a sentence.
What is a Relative Clause?
A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause that typically modifies or describes a noun or pronoun in a sentence. It provides additional information about the noun or pronoun by introducing a relative pronoun (such as “who,” “whom,” “whose,” “which,” or “that”) to connect the clause to the noun or pronoun.
For example, in the sentence “The man who is wearing the blue shirt is my brother,” the relative clause “who is wearing the blue shirt” modifies the noun “man” by providing additional information about him. The relative pronoun “who” connects the clause to the noun “man.”
Relative clauses can be either restrictive or non-restrictive.
A restrictive relative clause (that is also called defining relative clause) provides essential information about the noun or pronoun, and without it, the meaning of the sentence would be unclear or incomplete.
A non-restrictive relative clause (that is also called non defining relative clause) provides additional information about the noun or pronoun, but it is not necessary for the sentence’s overall meaning.
30 Examples of Relative Clause in Sentences
Restrictive Relative Clauses Examples
Below are examples of restrictive/defining relative clauses:
Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses Examples
Below are examples of non-restrictive non defining relative clauses:
Relative Clauses Exercises
Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with the appropriate relative pronoun (who, which, or whose). Some sentences may have more than one correct option.
Defining And Non Defining Relative Clauses Exercises
The words used as relative pronouns have other uses in English grammar: that can be a demonstrative or a conjunction, while which, what, who, whom and whose can be interrogatives. For other uses of whoever etc., see -ever.
Languages differ in many ways in how relative clauses are expressed:
Gapped relative clause
Only a very small number of languages, of which the best known is Yoruba, have pronoun retention as their sole grammatical type of relative clause.
Dialects of some European languages, such as Italian, do use the nonreduction type in forms that could be glossed in English as «The person just passed us by, she introduced me to the chancellor here.»
In general, however, nonreduction is restricted to verb-final languages, though it is more common among those that are head-marking.
Strategies for joining the relative clause to the main clause
Various possibilities for ordering are:
Одной из важных грамматических категорий в любом языке является относительное предложение – в английском оно называется Relative Clause. Оно не только несет дополнительную смысловую нагрузку, но и демонстрирует отношение подчиненности одного действия, события или явления другому. Давайте узнаем, что представляют из себя Relative Clauses в английском языке и научимся использовать и переводить их правильно.
Относительные придаточные
Если не вдаваться в лингвистические нюансы, изначально Relative Clause можно представить себе как придаточное предложение, относящееся к подлежащему главного предложения. В данном случае оно носит объяснительный характер, то есть добавляет какую-либо информацию о субъекте. Рассмотрим это на примерах:
The man who is watching Helen now is her ex-husband. – Мужчина, который сейчас наблюдает за Хелен – ее бывший муж. (в относительном придаточном говорящий поясняет, о каком именно мужчине он говорит).
The apples that you have brought are not ripe. – Яблоки, которые ты принес, неспелые. (Relative Clause подчеркивает, о каких яблоках идет речь).
I will put on my green shoes which I bought yesterday. – Я надену зеленые туфли, которые купила вчера. (говорящий поясняет, какие именно туфли наденет).
Как видите, понять, для чего служит данный вид второстепенных предложений, не так сложно. Однако при переводе стоит обратить внимание на один нюанс: на русский все они переводятся как фразы, начинающиеся со слова «который» — то есть, по сути, выступают как придаточные определительные предложения.
И еще один важный момент: как вы успели заметить из примеров, подлежащее в предложениях с относительной частью всегда используется с определенным артиклем the. В первую очередь это связано с конкретизирующей функцией второстепенной части, которая доносит или уточняет информацию о субъекте. Именно поэтому важно запомнить это правило Relative Clauses: при их использовании подлежащее в основном предложении идет с определенным артиклем.
Относительные местоимения для Relative Clauses
Между главным и придаточным предложениями необходимо установить корректную грамматическую и логическую связь. В нашем случае за это отвечают относительные местоимения (Relative Pronouns). Их не так много, поэтому выучить все не составит труда. Разберем подробнее основные характерные для относительных предложений связки:
Who
Местоимение, которое переводится как «кто», употребляется в случаях, когда субъект главного предложения – одушевленный. Однако не забывайте, что при переводе на русский всего предложения целиком оно будет звучать как «который».
The boy who is running to the gates is our best player. – Мальчик, который сейчас бежит к воротам, наш лучший игрок.
Show me the woman who will be able to stand his greed. – Покажите мне женщину, которая способна вытерпеть его жадность.
The puppy who is sleeping in the corner is my favourite. – Щенок, который спит в углу, нравится мне больше всех.
Which
Это относительное местоимение используется, когда в главном предложении речь идет о чем-то неодушевленном или же диких животных.
The birds which live in that grove look like bullfinches.- Птицы, которые живут в соседней роще, похожи на снегирей.
The eggs which are in the smaller basket are already bolied. – Яйца, которые лежат в корзинке поменьше, уже сварены.
That
Выступая в роли относительного местоимения, that может успешно сочетаться как с людьми, так и с неодушевленными предметами или явлениям. При этом в английском языке сложилась определенная норма: that принято употреблять в разговорной речи, в то время как в письменной более уместны who и which.
The car that stands to the left belongs to Mrs Grey. – Машина, которая стоит слева, принадлежит миссис Грей.
The nice girl that you saw yesterday is my boss’s daughter. – Симпатичная девушка, которую ты видел вчера – дочь моего начальника.
Whom
Whom – форма местоимения who в объектном падеже. В переводе на русский оно звучит как «которому», «которого», «с которым» и очень часто используется с предлогом. Разумеется, речь в данном случае идет только о людях и домашних питомцах.
The woman with whom she flew to Seattle is her mother-in-law. – Женщина, с которой она полетела в Сиэтл, – ее свекровь.
My friend whom I gave this book was really glad. – Друг, которому я подарил эту книгу, был действительно рад.
Whose
Еще одна форма who – в этот раз в притяжательном падеже.
The girl whose body was the example for all her friends turned out to suffer from bulimia. – Оказалось, что девушка, фигурка которой была примером для всех ее подруг, страдает от булимии.
The man whose purse she had stolen fell in love with her. – Мужчина, у которого она украла кошелек, влюбился в нее.
Очевидно, что relative clauses with who, that, which относятся к наиболее характерным и общеупотребительным. Однако нередко встречаются ситуации, в которых придаточные определительные предложения в английском языке могут связываться с главными с помощью других относительных местоимений. Чаще всего в этом качестве выступают where и why.
The reason why I left Jenny two years ago was my fear of close relationships. – Причина, по которой я оставил Дженни два года назад – мой страх перед близкими отношениями.
I love Riga because it is the town where I grew up.- Я люблю Ригу, потому что это город, в котором я вырос.
Типы придаточных относительных предложений в английском языке
Исходя из степени важности информации, содержащейся в придаточном относительном предложении, все они подразделяются на два основных типа.
Определяющиепридаточные (Defining Relative Clauses)
К таким предложениям относятся те, что содержат какую-либо важную для повествования или разговора информацию о субъекте – в первую очередь какое-то уточнение или пояснение. Если это предложение убрать, оно лишится значительной части смысла.
Yesterday he danced with the girl who is standing there at the window. – Вчера он танцевал с девушкой, которая стоит у окна. (уточнение)
The peaches that are under the table are already rotten. Don’t eat them. – Персики, которые лежат под столом, уже гнилые. Не ешь их. (именно те, что под столом)
The blue dress which you wanted to put on is torn at the sleeve. – Голубое платье, которое ты хотела надеть, порвано возле рукава. (именно это платье, которое хотелось надеть).
Неопределяющиепридаточные (Non-Defining Relative Clauses)
К данному типу относятся придаточные, которые хотя и содержат какую-либо информацию о субъекте главного предложения, принципиально важными для разговора не являются. В этом случае относительное придаточное обособляется запятыми.
Her husband, who works as an interpreter, speaks Chinese, Hungarian, and Russian. – Ее муж, который работает переводчиком, знает китайский, венгерский и русский.
The apple-tree, which is taller than others, is a good variant for a photo zone. – Яблоня, которая выше остальных, — хороший вариант для фотозоны.
Еще один момент: важно запомнить, что that никогда не употребляется в non-defining relative clauses, поскольку подразумевает необходимую и конкретную информации, обязательную для упоминания.
Отличить неопределяющие придаточные от определяющих просто – достаточно попробовать убрать их из предложения. Если смысловая составляющая искажается или предложение становится нелогичным, перед вами defining clause. Если фраза никак не страдает – соответственно, вы имеете дело с вторым типом относительного придаточного.
Немного грамматических нюансов напоследок
Чтобы употреблять относительные придаточные на уровне носителя языка, важно также обратить внимание на следующие моменты:
Обособление запятыми. Эту особенность non-defining relative clauses мы уже обсудили выше – однако повтор лишний раз не помешает.
Опускание относительного местоимения. Возможно только в defining relative clauses и только в случаях, когда они относятся не к субъекту, а к объекту.
The man (whom) I love will never betray me. – Мужчина, которого я люблю, никогда меня не предаст.
All dresses (that) she wears are sewn by her cousin. – Все платья, которые она носит, сшиты ее двоюродной сестрой.
Использование предлога. В этом случае место для предлога определяется исходя из стиля речи. В неформальной и разговорной он ставится ближе к концу предложения, в более официальной – обычно идет перед придаточным предложением.
Sorry, but your bag you usually travel with is torn. – Прости, но сумка, с которой ты обычно путешествуешь, порвалась.
The man with whom I danced at the party, called me in the morning. – Мужчина, с которым я танцевала вчера на вечеринке, позвонил мне утром.
Надеемся, теперь тема относительных придаточных в английском языке стала для вас более понятной. Немного практики – и вы будете правильно употреблять их автоматически.
Variables in the basic relative clause
The choice of relative pronoun typically depends on whether the antecedent is human or non-human: for example, who and its derivatives (whom, whoever, etc.—apart from whose) are generally restricted to human antecedents, while which and what and their derivatives refer in most cases to things, including animals.
English also makes the distinction between human vs. thing in personal pronouns (he, she vs. it) and certain other pronouns (such as someone, somebody vs. something); but some particular things—such a navy ships and marine vessels—are described with female pronouns, and pets and other animals are frequently addressed in terms of their gender or their (anthropomorphic) ‘personhood’. Typically, it is when these things-as-human become antecedents to relative clauses that their relative pronouns tend to revert to that or which—for things—rather than taking the regular who, whom, etc., for human referents. See Gender in English.
Restrictive or non-restrictive relative clauses
(1) The builder, who erects very fine houses, will make a large profit. (non-restrictive)
(2) The builder who erects very fine houses will make a large profit. (restrictive)
The first expression refers to an individual builder (and it implies that we know, or know of, the builder, which is the referent). It says that he builds «very fine» houses, and that he will make a large profit. It conveys these meanings by deploying a non-restrictive relative clause and three short intonation curves, usually marked-off by commas. The second expression refers not to a single builder but to a certain category, also called a set, of builders who meet a particular qualification, or distinguishing property: the one explained by the restrictive relative clause. Now the sentence means: it is the builder who builds «very fine» houses who will make a large profit. It conveys this very different meaning by providing a restrictive relative clause and only one intonation curve, and no commas. Commas are, however, often used erroneously, probably because the rule is taught based on logic and most people are not aware that they can trust their ear in deciding whether to use a comma. (English uses commas in some other cases based on grammar, not prosody.)
Thus, in speaking or writing English prose, a restrictive rather than non-restrictive meaning (or vice versa), requires the correct syntax by choosing the appropriate relative clause (i.e., restrictive or non-restrictive) and the appropriate intonation and punctuation.
To determine whether a relative clause is restrictive or non-restrictive a simple test can be applied. If the basic meaning of the sentence (the thought) is not changed by removing the relative clause, the relative clause is not essential to the basic thought and is non-restrictive. Alternatively, if the essential meaning of the thought is disturbed, the relative clause is restrictive.
Restrictive relative clauses are also called integrated relative clauses, defining relative clauses, or identifying relative clauses. Conversely, non-restrictive relative clauses are called supplementary, appositive, non-defining, or non-identifying relative clauses.
Integrated clauses that are not restrictive
Although the term «restrictive» has become established as joined with integrated clauses, there are integrated clauses that do not necessarily express a distinguishing property of the referent. Such a (so-called) restrictive clause, actually a non-restrictive clause, is so completely integrated into the narrative and the intonation of the main sentence that it falsely appears to be restrictive.
These examples of integrated relative clauses in that sense are not truly restrictive:
When the «restrictive» relative clause is removed from either of the above sentences, the antecedent («the father» and «the clergyman») is not placed in question. In the first example, for instance, there is no suggestion that the narrator has two fathers because the relative clause does not express a distinguishing property of the subject. Instead, the relative clause is integrated but is not truly restrictive.
That or which for non-human antecedents
The distinction between the relative pronouns that and which to introduce restrictive relative clauses with non-human antecedents is a frequent point of dispute.
For clarity, we can look at the case of non-human antecedents using the previous example:
(1) The building company, which erects very fine houses, will make a large profit. (non-restrictive)
(2) The building company that (or which) erects very fine houses will make a large profit. (restrictive)
Equivalently, the two cases would be applied where the statements are logically:
(1) «which», non-restrictive: (The building company erects very fine houses) AND (The building company will make a large profit).
(2) «that», restrictive: (The building company erects very fine houses) IMPLIES (The building company will make a large profit).
Zero relative pronoun
English, unlike other West Germanic languages, has a zero relative pronoun (denoted below as Ø)—that is, the relative pronoun is implied and not explicitly written or spoken; it is «unvoiced». This measure is used in restrictive relative clauses (only) as an alternative to voicing that, which or who, whom, etc. in these clauses:
Jack built the house that I was born in;
Jack built the house Ø I was born in;
He is the person whom I saw;
He is the person Ø I saw.
In other words, the word «that» (or «who» or «which», etc.) as a relative clause connector is optional when it would not be the subject of the relative clause; even when it would be required in other languages.
The zero relative pronoun cannot be the subject of the verb in the relative clause; that is, that or who, etc., cannot be omitted (unvoiced) if the zero pronoun would be a subject. Thus one may say:
Jack built the house that sits on the hill;
She is the one who encouraged me;
but never (except in some varieties of colloquial English):
*Jack built the house Ø sits on the hill;
*She is the one Ø encouraged me.
Relative clauses headed by zeros are frequently called contact clauses in TEFL contexts, and may also be called «zero clauses».
(If that is analyzed as a complementizer rather than as a relative pronoun the above sentences would be represented differently: Jack built the house that I was born in Ø; Jack built the house I was born in Ø; He is the person I saw Ø. (see § That as relativizer instead of relative pronoun)
‘What’ relative pronoun
Some varieties of English use what as a relative pronoun. For example, in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a Ravager says, «For it is a name what strikes fear into the hearts of anyone what hears it.»
What as a relative pronoun appeared on the front-page of United Kingdom newspaper The Sun on 11 April 1992 in the headline «It’s The Sun Wot Won It.»
Standard Englishes proscribe the use of what as a relative pronoun, preferring who or that.
Relative pronoun as the object of a preposition
A relative pronoun often appears as the object of a preposition, both in restrictive and non-restrictive clauses, as in
«Jack is the boy with whom Jenny fell in love.»
«Yesterday, Jenny met Jack, for whom she no longer has any feelings.»
It is not unusual to place the preposition at the end of the relative clause, while the relative pronoun that it governs is placed at the beginning of the clause or omitted, so
«Jack is the boy that Jenny fell in love with.»
is also possible.
A preposition is never placed in front of the relative pronoun that, but preposition stranding is possible when there is an explicit that, or when the relative pronoun representing the object of the clause is omitted.
So
«Jack is the boy Jenny fell in love with.»
are possible but
* «Jack is the boy with that Jenny fell in love.»
* «Jack is the boy with who Jenny fell in love»
«Jack is the boy who Jenny fell in love with.»
especially in informal style.
Use of the objective case with a stranded preposition, as in
«Jack is the boy whom Jenny fell in love with.»
Here are some common errors people make when they use relative clauses and pronouns and how to correct them.
1. using a pronoun or noun along with the relative pronoun when it is a subject
Where are the boys who they will play with us?
Where are the boys who will play with us?
2. leaving out the relative pronoun when it is the subject of the relative clause
This is the man won the first prize.
This is the man who won the first prize.
3. keeping the object in the relative clause along with the relative pronoun that refers to it
I will bring the book that you lent me it.
I will bring the book that you lent me.
4. not using commas to separate a non-defining clauses in writing
She was reading Hamlet which was written by Shakespeare.
She was reading Hamlet, which was written by Shakespeare.
5. using commas to separate defining clauses in writing
He works in a company, that is located in his hometown.
He works in a company that is located in his hometown.
6. using which to refer to adverb of time or place without a preposition
Do you remember the day which we received the offer?
Do you remember the day on which we received the offer?
Do you remember the day when we received the offer?
That as relativizer instead of relative pronoun
The word that, when used in the way described above, has been classified as a relative pronoun; however, according to some linguists it ought to be analyzed instead as a subordinating conjunction or relativizer. This is consistent with that used as a conjunction in (I said that I was tired), or implied in (I said I was tired).
There are some grammatical differences between that and the (other) relative pronouns: that is limited to restrictive relative clauses, and it cannot be preceded with a preposition. There are also similarities between the (purported) relative pronoun that and the ordinary conjunction that: the weak pronunciation is (almost invariably) used in both cases, and both of them are frequently omitted as implied.
Что нам говорит правило?
Правило гласит, что в английском языке определительные придаточные предложения могут быть как identifying (ограничительные) или non-identifying (распространительные).
Если говорить проще, то первые определяют что-то важное в предложении, последние — не определяют. Обычно non-identifying предложения можно выделить запятыми и, соответственно, выбросить из предложения.
This is the new computer that I bought yesterday. — Это новый компьютер, который я купил вчера.
She was pleased with the present that her father gave her. — Она была рада подарку, который ее отец ей подарил.
В этих примерах часть текста после слова that — определяющая, потому что если их убрать, предложение потеряет важный смысловую нагрузку. Их никоим образом нельзя пропустить или убрать вовсе.
Вот вам хороший пример, который поможет понять существенную разницу.
The students, who had revised the material, passed the test.
The students who had revised the material passed the test.
Если вспомнить правило, то придаточное предложение, выделенное запятыми, можно выбросить из текста. Поэтому получается, что в первом случае все ученики сдали тест (в том числе и те, кто повторил). А вот во втором случае именно те, кто повторил перед тестом, его и сдали!
Types of relative clauses
There are two types of relative clauses that describe the nouns: defining and non-defining relative clauses.
In addition, relative clauses can refer to a whole sentence or clause, especially in speaking.
Defining relative clauses add essential information about a noun.
If we remove the defining relative clause, the sentence does not make sense.
Non-defining relative clauses add extra information to a noun or noun phrase.
This extra information is not essential.
If we remove the relative clause, the sentence still makes sense.. This type of clause is more common in written English.
Note
The structure of both defining and non-defining relative clauses is the same. But they are different in the use of punctuation.
With non-defining relative clauses, we separate the clause with commas.
Also, we cannot use that in this type of clause.
When we combine two sentences into one sentence of two clauses (main clause and relative clause), we place the relative clause close to the noun that it describes.
In the two examples above, the nouns we want to describe come at the end of the first sentence. So we had only to remove the full-stop and put the relative pronoun instead of the subject of the second sentence.
Sometimes the relative clause describes the subject of the main clause. In these cases, we insert the relative clause after the subject and before the main verb of the main clause.
Relative clauses referring to a whole sentence
Relative clause can refer to a whole sentence or group of sentences. (That’s why they are sometimes called sentential relative clauses
We introduce this type of relative causes with the relative pronoun which.
In writing, we add a comma before which.
In speaking we sometimes pause before which clauses.
In informal speaking, we use which to express an opinion or evaluation of what has been said.
In the conversation below, the first speaker (A) comments with a which clause after the listener (B) responded.
Gapless relative clauses
They were just towed across the Midway onto the bridle path, where they were just sitting there peacefully
In this case, removing the underlined resumptive pronoun results in an acceptable gapped relative clause:
They were just towed across the Midway onto the bridle path, where they were just sitting ___ peacefully
In other cases, the resumptive pronoun is used to work around a syntactic constraint:
In this example, the word it occurs as part of a wh-island. Attempting to extract it gives an unacceptable result:
*They have a billion dollars of inventory that they don’t know where ___ is.
a book that you wish the author was a terrific friend of yours
Relative adverbs
Relative adverbs describe time, place and reason. They are:
They introduce relative clauses, and they usually replace the formal structure preposition + relative pronoun, such as on which, at which, for which, etc.
When
We use when after words that refer to time, such as year, day, time, moment, winter, etc.
It can be omitted or replaced by that.
Where
We use where after words that refer to place, such as place, house, school, town, country, etc.
Why
We use why before the reason of something.
Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns introduce a relative clause. They include:
Who / whom
The relative pronoun who is used to refer to people. It can replace both subject and object of the clause.
However, in formal English (written and spoken), the relative pronoun whom (NOT who) is used to refer to the object of the clause.
We use the relative pronoun which to refer to all nouns except people.
The relative pronoun that is commonly used in place of who, whom and which in defining relative clauses.
In non-defining clauses, only who, whom and which can by used.
The relative pronoun whose is used to show that the noun in the main clause owns or is related to the noun in the relative clause.
It is used instead of possessive adjectives (my, your, our, his, her, its, their) with people, things and animals.
Note: The relative pronoun whose is different from who’s,
Who’s (with apostrophe ) is the short form of who is or who has.
See more explanation of the difference between the two words in the Grammar FAQs page.
Take a quiz on relative clauses and relative pronouns.
Take a quiz on relative pronouns.
Take a quiz on relative clauses.
Leaving out the relative pronoun
In informal speech and writing, we can completely leave out the relative pronoun in defining relative clauses only when it refers the object of the relative clause.
On the other hand, we cannot leave out the relative pronoun in non-defining relative clauses
Prepositions in relative clauses
In very formal English, the preposition can come before the relative pronoun at the beginning of the relative clause. In this case, whom (NOT who) is used after the preposition.
And here is another example:
This is an example with which:
Когда и как используются who, that, which?
Самые распространенные слова, которые используются в relative clause — это who, which, that.
The girl who was my age had already won this competition. — Девочка, которая была со мной одного возраста, уже побеждала в этом конкурсе.
The catalog which you ordered yesterday will arrive tomorrow. — Каталог, который ты заказал вчера, придет завтра.
The book that is on the table is a present for Joe’s birthday. — Книга, которая лежит на столе, это подарок на день рождения Джо.
Если вы хотите больше узнать о сложных предложениях в английском языке, то прошу сюда. Если же вам интересна вся грамматика, то мой грамматический сборник будет очень кстати.
Чтобы вам было намного легче освоить эту темы, я подготовила для вас упражнения для практики (Ответы будут в конце статьи, но прошу не подглядывать, пока не сделаете;) ).
Ну что, надеюсь, вы теперь вооружены полными знаниями и готовы справиться с любыми придаточными предложениями в английском языке. В попытках понять грамматику английского языка можно и в трех соснах заблудиться. Именно тогда нужна помочь профессионального учителя. Задавайте свои вопросы — буду рада на них ответить.
А пока я прощаюсь. До новых интересных встреч!
Ответы: 1. which 2. whose 3. who 4. who 5. that 6. that 7. who 8. whose 9. whose 10. whom 11. that 12. who 13. that 14. who 15. that
Nonfinite relative clauses
Some non-finite clauses, including infinitive and participial clauses, may also function as relative clauses. These include:
For further examples see Uses of English verb forms § Uses of nonfinite verbs.
Fused relative constructions
What he did was clearly impossible.
Here «What he did» has the same sense as «that which he did», or «the thing that he did». Thus the noun phrase the thing and the relative pronoun that are ‘fused’ into what; and the resulting relative construction «What he did» functions as the subject of the verb was. Free relative constructions are inherently restrictive.
English has a number of «fusible» relative pronouns that initiate relative constructions, including what, whatever and whoever. But these pronouns introduce other clauses as well; what can introduce interrogative content clauses («I do not know what he did») and both whatever and whoever can introduce adverbials («Whatever he did, he does not deserve this»). See -ever.