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RELATIVE CLAUSES. RELATIVE? In relation to what? What types of relative clauses are there? How are they built into the sentence? What problems can students have?. AFTER THE OBJECT. Where do relative clauses appear in the sentence?. AFTER THE SUBJECT.
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RELATIVE CLAUSES • RELATIVE? In relation to what? • What types of relative clauses are there? • How are they built into the sentence? • What problems can students have?
AFTER THE OBJECT Where do relative clauses appearin the sentence? AFTER THE SUBJECT • Mike tried to help a child who was lost. • Rome, which is the capital of Italy, lies on the Tiber. • I was to translate the whole text, which was impossible. AFTER A CLAUSE
Defining / Non-defining Whichis correct? • His wife, whois standing there, isverypretty. • His wifewhoisstanding thereisverypretty. www.flickr.com/Whiskeygonebad
Defining • The woman who lives in apartment No. 34 has been arrested. • The document (Ø /that/which) I need has 'IMPORTANT' written at the top. • That's the boy (Ø, that, who, whom) I invited to the party.
Non-defining • Frank Zappa, who was one of the most creative artists in rock 'n roll, came from California. • Peter brought his favorite antique book, which he had found at a flee market, to show his friends. • The singer, whose most recent recording has had much success,is signing autographs. www.flickr.com/kk+
Co-ordinate relative • His daughter has decided to take a gap year, which is something more and more young people do these days. • Police have been investigating a drug ring , the result of whichwas a series of arrests. (NEVERWHAT!)
Relative clauses with quantifiers It is preferable to use that (not which) after the following words: all, any(thing), every(thing), few, little, many, much, no(thing), none, some(thing), and after superlatives. • It was everything(that) he had ever wanted. • There were only a fewthatreally interested him. • Is the blue whalethe biggest animal that has ever lived?
After numbers and words like many, most, neither, and some, we use of before whom and which in non-defining relative clauses. • These immigrants are registering their children, many of whom were born in the U.S. • Mr. Bittner cut down 25 acres of sweet cherry trees, someofwhichwere 30 years old.
Relative adverbs:WHEN, WHERE, WHY • I'd like to know the reason (why/for which) he decided not to come. • February is the month (when/in which) many of my colleagues take skiing holidays. • She had always wanted to go to a country where/in which she could use her Spanish. (not optional) BUT
Relative clauses with prepositions (defining) • The banker to whom I gave my check was quite friendly. – formal • The woman who/Ø I talked to was very pleasant indeed. – less formal • The lecture to which all faculty had been invited was excellent.- formal • I didn’t like the book which/Ø you are so enthusiastic about. – less formal
Relative clauses with prepositions (non-defining) • The bank manager, to whom he addressed his complaints, was very unhelpful. – formal • The local branch manager, who I talked to about my problems, was very helpful. – very informal
Possessive relative clauses • He's the man whose car was stolen last week. • They were sure to visit the town whose location (OR the location of which) was little known. • Olympia, whose name is taken from the Greek, is the capitol of Washington State.
Non-finite/reduced relative clauses(defining) • The woman sitting next to Marian is her sister. • Each cell will continue to divide to form a human composed of millions of cells. • There’s food to be servedand drinks to be poured. www.flickr.com/nAok0
Non-finite/reduced relative clauses(non-defining) • Someof the clients’ money, believed to total £6 million, has found its way into unquoted companies. • A certified teacher, holding a master's degree in education, should complete a state specified educational course of study.
Infinitive clauses - passive or active? • There are all those apples to peel. • There are all those apples to be peeled. With other constructions, especially where quantifiers occur, the passive is less common: • We’ve got a lot of cooking to do.(less likely: to be done) • I have an essay to write for tomorrow morning.(much lesslikely: to be written)
Reduced relative clauses(verbless) • Let’sdiscussissuesrelevantto thetopic on the agenda. [whichare] • He has met many Canadian doctorscritical of their own health-care system. [whoare] www.flickr.com/CarbonNYC
PROBLEMS? • PUNCTUATION • CHOICE OF RELATIVE PRONOUN • WHEN/WHERE/WHY (or prep+which) • PREPOSITIONS • POSSESSIVE RELATIVE (whose/N+of which) • CO-ORDINATE RELATIVE (WHICH!) • REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSES
Prepared by Agata Lewandowska