GRAMMAR Relative Clauses

D.O.
We are waiting for Apu.

Same thing in different sentences.
Apu is from India.
Subj
.
We are waiting for Apu, who is from India.
Apu is from India.
Subj
The two sentences can be linked into one.
We use a relative pronoun to substitute the
common item and join the two sentences in one.
We are waiting for Apu , who is fromIndia.

This is the main clause. This is the subordinate clause.
We are waiting for Apu, who is from India.

Main /independent Subordinate/
clause Dependent clause
If we remove the Its meaning is

subordinate clause from incomplete if we
the sentence, its remove the main
meaning is still clause.
complete.
LINKING WORDS
RELATIVE
PRONOUNS
WHO / THAT WHICH / THAT WHOSE

PREPOSITION
+ WHOM
or
+WHICH
(Formal)
LINKING WORDS
RELATIVE ADVERBS
WHEN / THAT WHERE WHY / THAT

Two types of relative clauses:
Non-Defining Defining
 Extra information  Essential information

about a noun in a about a noun in a
sentence sentence
The new Woody Allen You’re the man (that) I
film, which I saw last saw last week.
week, is very good.
 Use commas  No commas
 Always use a relative  Can omit pronoun if it is
pronoun: not the SUBJECT of the
who/whom ,which relative clause
whose, where, when  That (informal) can
replace which / who/
when / why but not
where, whose or whom
Defining relative clauses
= No commas
A defining relative clause identifies which
person or thing we mean exactly.
It cannot be left out of the sentence or the
meaning of the sentence is incomplete:
It’s the book that I read yesterday.

* It’s the book. (this sentence is
incomplete)
Defining relative clauses
= No commas
 You can omit the pronoun if it is the
OBJECT of the relative clause (if there is
a SUBJECT and a VERB after the
relative pronoun )
It’s the book that I read yesterday (omit)
It’s the book I read yesterday.
The girl who lives next door is French.
 We can never omit WHOSE and WHERE

Non-defining relative
clauses = with commas
This kind of clause gives additional
information about a person or thing.
The sentence still makes sense without
the non-defining relative clause:
My neighbour, who studies

engineering, is very noisy.
My neighbour is very noisy.
Formal / Informal
Non-Defining relative clauses (with
commas) are more common in written
English because they are quite formal.
In spoken English we would probably use
two sentences.
Compare:
Elvis Presley, who has sold over one billion albums, died of
prescription drug abuse. [written]
with
Elvis has sold over a billion albums. He died of an
overdose. [spoken]
Verb + preposition
 When the verb is followed by a preposition in
the relative clause we can use two structures:
The woman is a lawyer. I spoke to a woman
 Formal: Preposition + rel.pronoun

The woman to whom* I spoke is a lawyer.
(*We can’t omit the relative pronoun after a preposition)
Or
 Informal: Preposition after the verb
The woman (who) I spoke to is a lawyer.
Relative Adverbs
Time: when or
in/on/at + which or that
 That was the year when/that/in which I
got my degree.
 11 September 2001 was the day
when/that/on which people’s attitude
towards terrorism changed.
 The adverb (when) can be omitted.
11 September 2001 was the day people’s
attitude towards terrorism changed.
Relative Adverbs
Place: where or
in/on/at + which or that
 That’s the factory where/in which they
make chemicals.
 That’s the spot where/on which the
battle took place.
The adverb (where) cannot generally be

omitted.
Relative Adverbs:
Reason: why (for which)
 I will explain the reasons why /for
which the accident occurred
 The adverb (why) can be omitted.

I will explain the reasons the accident
occurred
Relative pronouns
Possessive: whose
 It takes the place of his, her, their or a noun
in possessive case ‘s.
 Andy Warhol was a pop artist whose paintings
are famous worldwide.(His paintings are
famous…)
 Charlie, whose sister lives in London,

is travelling to England this summer. (Charlie’s
sister lives in London).

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D.O.

We are waiting for Apu.

Apu is from India.

Apu is from India.

We are waiting for Apu , who is fromIndia.

We are waiting for Apu, who is from India.

If we remove the Its meaning is

WHO / THAT WHICH / THAT WHOSE

WHEN / THAT WHERE WHY / THAT

 Extra information  Essential information

It’s the book that I read yesterday.

The girl who lives next door is French.

 We can never omit WHOSE and WHERE

My neighbour, who studies

 Formal: Preposition + rel.pronoun

The adverb (where) cannot generally be

 The adverb (why) can be omitted.

 Charlie, whose sister lives in London,

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