Relative Clauses

Types of pronouns
 Subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)
 Object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them)
 Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves,
themselves)
 Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs)
 Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, those, these)
 Relative pronouns (who, which, that, whose)
When an adjective is not enough, we use a relative (i.e.
adjective) clause to define what we are talking about.
Be careful about
Examples

 The newspapers which I bought last Saturday are full of job adverts!
 That was the year when he graduated from university and immigrated.
 My dad knows someone who left his job in Morocco and went abroad.
 An underpaid employee is a worker whose salary is too low.
 A home country is the country where a person is born.
Complete the Sentences with the
correct word
Necessary information, restrict our focus in just Not necessary the information. Doesn’t specify or
one. Specifies or identifies which one identify what we are talking about. We already
know.
Non identifying adjective clause

Don’t use that in this type of clause.

The girl, who had an accident, is at the hospital.

The man, who lives upstairs, is very noisy.
My friend, who lives in London, came to visit me.
The house, which has been empty for two years, has just been sold.
Martin, whose mother is Spanish, speaks both Spanish and English fluently.
Put commas where needed in the sentences below. If
the sentence does not need a comma, do nothing.

 The country that is between Canada and Mexico is the United States.
 The United States which has the highest population in North America is between
Canada and Mexico
 The most populous country in North America the United States is between Canad
Mexico.
 Any customer who is experiencing technical issues can call our Customer Service
 Feel free to call our Customer Service Center which is open 24 hours a day.
 The phone number of the Customer Service Center which is open 24 hours a day i
 (888) 555-8888.
 Benji my terrier dog loves taking walks to Oak Tree Park.
 Oak Tree Park which is near my house has lots of beautiful flowers.
USING SUBJECT PRONOUNS :
WHO, WHICH , THAT

I thanked the woman . She helped me.

a) I thanked the woman who helped me .
b) I thanked the woman that helped me .

In (a) : I thanked the woman = an independent

clause
who helped me = an adjective clause
The adjective clause modifies the noun woman .
 USING OBJECT PRONOUNS :
WHO(M),WHICH,THAT

Pronoun used as the object of a verb

The man was Mr.Jones.I saw him.
 The man who(m) I saw was Mr. Jones .
 The man that I saw was Mr. Jones.
 The man I saw was Mr.Jones.
- Pronoun Used as the Object Of a Preposıtıon

 She is the woman . I told you about her .

 She is the woman about whom I told you.
 She is the woman who(m) I told you about.
 She is the woman that I told you about .
 She is the woman I told you about.
Note : If the preposition comes at the beginning of
the adjective clause , only whom or which may
be used .A preposition is never immediately
followed by that or who.

practice :
1- The meeting was very interesting.I went to it.
2- I must thank the people .I got a present from
them .
Using WHOSE in adjective clauses :

Ex: 1. I know the boy. His bicycle was stolen.

-> I know the boy whose bicycle was stolen.

2. Mr. Catt has a painting. Its value is inestimable.

-> Mr. Catt has a painting whose value is inestimable.
Using WHERE and WHEN in adjective clauses:
Ex: 1. The building is very old. He lives in that building
(there).
-> The building where he lives is very old.

2. I’ll never forget the day. I met you on that day (then)
-> I’ll never forget the day when I met you.
Rewrite the following sentences with the
sentence in brackets as defining relative
clause.
The students (they arrived late) missed the announcements.
The books (I buy them from amazon.com) always arrive on time.
A teacher (he is always tolerant and patient) can easily manage a badly-behaved class.
At the party last night, I met a girl (her boy friend used to be my assistant).
My wife found a kitten (the kitten was left in our garden).
Inebolu is the town (in this town, my parents were born).
Practical English Usage is the reference book (I use this book very often).
The students (they do not keep a tidy file of materials and worksheets) do not know what
to study before exams.
The teachers (they claim to be Mr. and Ms. Know-all) are likely to make terrible mistakes
when they are teaching.
Exercises (they are too long and mechanical) can easily make students fed up.
Rewrite these sentences using relative
clauses. Use who, whose and which.

1. A lion is an animal. It is very strong. -

2. A novelist is a person. He writes novels. -
3. A bottle opener is a device. It opens bottles –
4. The girl speaks Chinese. Her mother write poems.
5. A detective is someone. He discovers the truth about crimes. –
Recapitulation
Omission of the relative pronoun in
defining clauses
 Omission of Relative Pronouns: examples

1. Relative pronoun in defining/ restrictive relative clauses can be omitted if it

is object of the verb.

Eg: I enjoy the book which / that you lent me yesterday.

-> I enjoy the book you lent me yesterday.

2.Relative pronoun in defining/ restrictive relative clauses can be omitted if it is

object of a preposition and the preposition stands at the end of the relative
clauses.

Eg: - The school which I used to go to is very big.

- The school to which I used to go is very big.
-> The school I used to go to is very big.
 the rules of omission are:

A. If the relative pronoun is the subject of the adjective clause, it cannot be omitted
Ex. The man who quit forgot his papers.
A. If the relative pronoun is the object of the adjective clause, it can be omitted
Ex. The picture that I wanted had been sold. / The picture I wanted had been
sold.
A. If the relative pronoun is the object of the preposition in the adjective clause, it can be omitted,
and the preposition goes to the end of the clause.
Ex. The man for whom I work gave me a bonus. / The man I work for gave me
a bonus.
A. The relative pronoun ‘whose’ can never be omitted.
Ex. The man whose opinion we respect teaches at the local school.
A. The clause marker ‘when’ can be omitted.
Ex. That was the year when the workers were on strike. / That was the year
the workers were on strike.
A. The clause markers ‘where’ and ‘whereby’ can never be omitted.
Ex. That’s the room where I was born.
SUBJECT position: A relative clause can often be reduced to a phrase when the
relative pronoun of the adjective clause is the subject of the clause. To reduce
the clause we omit the clause marker (the RP) and any auxiliary verbs. Then, we
change the main verb to –ing for the active voice and –ed for the passive.

Relative clauses are often reduced to phrases.

Unlike a clause, a phrase is a group of words that does not contain both a subject
and a verb.
Reducing adjective clauses to adjective
phrases:

. Relative clauses replaced by present participle phrase

Eg:1. Those people who are taking photos over there come from Sweeden.
 Those people taking photos over there come from Sweeden.
 Relative clauses with active meaning can be reduced by present participial phrase.

. Relative clauses replaced by past participle phrase:

Eg:1. The boy who was given a present is my son.

The boy given a present is my son.
 Relative clauses with passive meaning can be reduced by past participial phrase.
Examples of reduced RELATIVE CLAUSES:
A. Active voice
The man who is driving has a new car. (clause)
The man driving has a new car. (phrase)

She published a book which contains descriptions of English wildflowers. (clause)

She published a book containing descriptions of English wildflowers. (phrase)

A. Passive voice

The magazine ad which was printed in the newspaper showed our street. (clause)
The magazine ad printed in the newspaper showed our street. (phrase)

The ideas which had been presented in Monday’s meeting were discussed.
(clause)
The ideas presented in Monday’s meeting were discussed. (phrase)
 Examples of reduced RELATIVE CLAUSES:
2
A. Subject + to be + adjective

The man who is responsible said the water had a high salt content. (clause)
The man responsible said the water had a high salt content. (phrase)

A. Subject + to be + noun

Her name, which is Mary Smith, is easy to remember. (clause)

Her name, Mary Smith, is easy to remember. (phrase)

A. Subject + to be + prepositional phrase

The books that are on the table belong to Emma. (clause)

The books on the table belong to Emma. (phrase)
object position: When the clause marker is in the object position, it cannot be
reduced to an adjective phrase. Clauses beginning with ‘when’ or ‘where’
cannot be reduced.
Adjective clause in object position

The books that I checked out of the library are due today. (correct)
The books checking out of the library are due today. (incorrect)
*The subject in the independent clause, “books,” is not the subject for the
verb “check.” Books cannot check themselves out!*

Adjective clauses that begin with clause markers that take the adverb
position (when/where)

The time when Andrew arrived was inconvenient. (correct)

The time arriving was inconvenient. (incorrect)
 LAST REMINDER: do not repeat the
noun or use a pronoun that refers to the
noun you are describing.

CORRECT The concert that I went to was loud.

INCORRECT The concert that I went to it was loud.
 Combine the following sentences. Be careful to notice which
sentence is about which noun.

 I learned English in a class. There were only 12 students in the class. The students were
from different backgrounds.
 I watched a documentary film. The film was made in Mongolia. In Mongolia, people have
developed a unique culture about horses.
 The bookstore sent me the book. I had been shopping from the bookstore for a long time.
The book was signed by its first owner. The owner was a famous artist in the 70s.
 We went to see a film. The film was based on a play by Shakespeare. Shakespeare has
been a great source of stories. These stories have inspired many great directors such as
Polanski and Zeffirelli.
 I got on a bus. The bus wasn’t going to the place. I wanted to go to that place.
 According to a recent research, about 20 % of the university students in Turkey want to
have a further degree in European or American universities. These universities they
believe provide more opportunities for their future. Otherwise, their future they think
would be rather bleak in Turkey.
If necessary correct or make
improvements to these sentences