Relative Clauses 2
Relative Clauses 2
The relative pronouns who, which and that go after the noun and at the beginning of the relative clause.
Who refers to people.
Nick is the man who owns that enormous dog.
I don't like people who tell jokes all the time.
The little girl who sat next to me on the coach ate sweets the whole way.
Sarah is pretty annoyed with the person who stole her mobile phone.
We can also use that, but it is less usual.
Jake is the man that plays the guitar.
The woman that lived here before us is a romantic novelist.
That and which refer to things. That is more usual than which, especially in conversation.
The car that won the race looked very futuristic, didn't it?
They've recaptured all the animals that escaped from the zoo.
The children saw the actual spacecraft that landed on the moon.
Which can be a little formal.
There are several restaurants which do Sunday lunches.
Is Zedco the company which was taken over last year?
In all these sentences who, which and that are the subject of the relative clause.
A relative pronoun such as who or that can be the subject of a relative clause.
Harriet talked to a couple who were staying at the camp-site. (They were staying at the camp-site.)
The postcard that came this morning was from Harriet. (It came this morning.)
Mike and Harriet are visiting a woman who they met on holiday. (They met her on holiday.)
The old castle that we visited was really interesting. (We visited it.)
We do not use another pronoun like her or it with the relative pronoun.
NOT a woman who they met her
NOT -the old castle that we visited it
We can leave out the relative pronoun when it is the object of the relative clause.
Here are some more examples of relative clauses without an object pronoun.
We don't know the name of the person the police are questioning.
The cakes Melanie baked were delicious.
That jacket you're wearing is falling to pieces, Mike.
Remember that we cannot leave out a pronoun when it is the subject of a relative clause.
The man who spoke to Vicky is Sarah's boss.
In formal English, whom is sometimes used when the object of the relative clause is a person.
The person who/whom the police were questioning has now been released.
Introduction
A relative pronoun (e.g. that) can be the object of a preposition (e.g. for).
This is the bus that I've been waiting for. I've been waiting for the bus.
The restaurant that we normally go to is closed today. We normally go to the restaurant.
I've been waiting for the bus. The bus that I've been waiting for
We often leave out the relative pronoun when it is the object of a preposition.
The bus that I'm waiting for is late. The bus I'm waiting for is late.
Is this the article which you were interested in? Is this the article you were interested in?
That's the man who I was talking about. That's the man I was talking about.
Here are some more examples of relative clauses without an object pronoun.
I can’t remember the name of the hotel we stayed at.
This is the color we've finally decided on.
The shop I got my stereo from has lots of bargains.
Here the preposition comes at the beginning of the relative clause, before which or whom.
A. Whose
Here whose sister means his sister (the sister of the man Daniel met), and whose car means her car (the
car belonging to the woman). Here are some more examples.
Someone whose bicycle had been stolen was reporting it to the police.
Wayne Johnson is the man whose goal won the game for United.
We use whose mainly with people, e.g. someone, the man. But sometimes it goes with other nouns.
Which is the European country whose economy is growing the fastest?
Round the corner was a building whose windows were all broken.
Melanie was looking after a dog whose leg had been broken in an accident.
B What
We can also use what to give emphasis to a word or phrase, to make it more important. Compare these
examples.
NEUTRAL EMPHATIC
Rachel's stereo kept me awake. What kept me awake was Rachel's stereo.
Vicky is looking for a job in television. What Vicky is looking for is a job in television.
They booked a holiday together. What they did was book a holiday together.
C It
NEUTRAL EMPHATIC
Tom had an accident. It was Tom who had an accident (not David).
The computer gives me a headache. It's the computer that gives me a headache.
I'm eating chocolate cake. It's chocolate cake (that) I'm eating.
Mike's uncle died on Thursday. It was on Thursday that Mike's uncle died.
We must put in a pronoun when it is the subject of the relative clause (e.g. who had an accident). If it is
the object (e.g. that I'm eating), then we can leave it out.
A. Introduction
There are two kinds of relative clause. Compare this conversation and newspaper report.
The actor Art Golding, who starred in films such as 'Tornado' and 'Iceberg', has died after a long illness.
He was seventy-eight. Art Golding's most famous role was as the scientist in the film 'Supernova', which
broke all box-office records. The clauses in this conversation identify which film star and which film
Laura means. They are called identifying clauses.
The clauses in this report add information about Art Golding and about 'Supernova'. They are called
adding clauses, or sometimes non-identifying clauses.
IDENTIFYING
The man is rather strange makes sense only if we know which man. An identifying clause does not have
commas around it. Most relative clauses are identifying. We use them both in speech and in writing.
ADDING
These clauses add extra information about something which is already identified. The clause who lives
next door to Melanie adds information about Jake.
But we can say the sentence on its own without the relative clause.
Jake is rather strange. – makes sense because the name Jake identifies who we are talking about.
An adding clause has commas around it. If the adding clause is at the end of the sentence, we need only
one comma or dash. That's Jake, who lives next door. Adding clauses can be rather formal. We use them
mainly in writing. They are common in news reports. In speech we often use two short sentences.
Jake lives next door to Melanie.
He's rather strange.
142 Relative pronouns and relative adverbs
IDENTIFYING
ADDING
In an adding clause we can use who, whom, whose or which. We do NOT use that.
In an adding clause, we can use which relating to a whole sentence, not just to a noun.
It rained all night, which was good for the garden. Here which means 'the fact that it rained all night'.
Several people were injured this morning when a lorry carrying concrete pipes overturned in the centre
of town and hit two cars. Ambulances called to the scene took a long time to get through the rush hour
traffic. The accident happened in Alfred Road, where road repairs are under way. People who saw the
accident say that the lorry hit the cars after it swerved to avoid a pile of stones left in the road. The
traffic chaos caused by the accident has meant long delays for people travelling to work.
Carrying concrete pipes, called to the scene, etc are relative clauses: they relate to a noun. Carrying
concrete pipes tells us something about a lorry.
We can form these clauses with an active participle, e.g. carrying, or a passive participle, e.g. called. The
participles can refer to the present or the past.
B. ACTIVE
There are delays this morning for people travelling to work. (= people who are travelling to work)
A lorry carrying concrete pipes has overturned. (= a lorry which was carrying pipes)
the path leading to the church (= the path which leads/led to the church)
The active participle means the same as a pronoun + a continuous verb, e.g. which is/was carrying, or a
pronoun + a simple verb, e.g. which leads/led. But we do NOT use the active participle for a single action
in the past.
The police want to interview people who saw the accident.
NOT people-seeing-the-accident
PASSIVE
I have a message for people delayed by the traffic chaos. (= people who are being delayed)
We noticed a pile of stones left in the road. (= stones which had been left there)
food sold in supermarkets (= food which is/was sold in supermarkets)
The passive participle means the same as a pronoun + a passive verb, e.g. which is/was sold.
We can use a to-infinitive with these words: first, second, etc; next and last; only; and superlatives, e.g.
youngest, most famous.
We can leave out the noun (except after only) if the meaning is clear.
The captain was the last to leave the sinking ship.