UNIT 5 RELATIVE CLAUSES

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

The piece of sentence that follows the relative pronoun gives essential information about the antecedent.

He’s the man who / that taught me to drive. A speedometer is a thing which / that tells you how fast you’re doing. I remember the time when / that he arrived. That’s the place where I went for my driving lessons. The children whose books you are using are my pupils.

Characteristics

1. We can omit the relative pronouns WHO / WHICH / WHEN / WHERE / THAT when they are followed by a subjectThe man (who / that) I visited yesterday is a professor.The house (which / that) we bought is very comfortable. 2002 was the year (when / that) the film was released. This was the place (where) we first met.

2. We mustn’t omit the relative pronouns WHO / WHICH / THAT when it is followed by a verb

The man who / that visited us yesterday is a professor.The house which / that was so old was rebuilt.

► We never omit WHOSE

This is the girl whose dream of fame came true.

3. Prepositions

In formal contexts, we use the structures prep. + whom / prep. + which

That’s the film director with whom she did most of her movies. What is the play about which you are speaking?

In informal contexts, the preposition is placed at the end of the sentence.

That’s the film director (who / that) she did most of her movies with. What is the play (which / that) you are speaking about?

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

The piece of sentence that follows the relative pronoun is not essential to understand the meaning of the whole sentence.

The King of Spain, who lives in Madrid, is called Juan Carlos. My house, which is quite comfortable, needs redecorating. In two months, when they get the money, they’ll start shooting the film. The White House, where all American presidents live, is in Washington. That man, whose first lesson was a disaster, is now an excellent driver.

Characteristics

1. The relative clause is written between commas.2. THAT mustn’t be used as a relative.3. The relative pronoun mustn’t be omitted.

This book, which I bought last week, is not as interesting as I thought.

EXERCISES

1. Fill in the gaps with a relative pronoun. There may be more than one correct answer

a) What is the address of the woman ______ dog bit ours?b) Toledo is the city ______ I was born.c) Dinosaurs, ______ were such enormous creatures, died out about 65

million years ago.d) That is the book ______ I ordered from the publishers.e) Tom, ______ brother was at the party, had an accident.f) Joe will never forget the day ______ he first got is driving licence.g) The present ______ you gave me was beautiful.h) Her last single, ______ was Number One in the States, was a really slow

song.i) I’d like you to meet Helen, ______ is responsible for the foreign

department.j) The bag ______ Julia brought yesterday was not expensive.k) My boss has a friend ______ speaks Mandarin fluently.l) Emma gave me her fax number, ______ I wrote down in my diary.m) Anybody ______ wants to join the drama society must sign up now.n) What do you know about the woman ______ son won the lottery?o) That’s the place ______ I was sitting.p) The woman ______ you were talking to is my mother.q) I want to speak to someone ______ knows about dogs.r) The painting ______ you are looking at was by Monet.

Write between brackets the relative pronouns that can be omitted

2. Combine the following sentences using appropriate relative pronouns or adverbs. Make any necessary changes and pay attention to punctuation

a) Margaret Crotty was working in Indonesia in January 1996. She had just graduated from university.…………………………………………………………………………….

b) Jeanette is going to marry a man. His brother is in my class.

…………………………………………………………………………….

c) I need to see the map. Jeff gave you that map.…………………………………………………………………………….

d) I was in New York on September 11, 2001. The World Trade Center collapsed that day.…………………………………………………………………………….

e) Here is the bus stop. You need to get off there.…………………………………………………………………………….

f) Tom hired a decorator. The decorator is very expensive.………………………………………………………………………….....

g) Shakespeare is one of the best-known writers in the world. He is buried at Stratford-upon-Avon.…………………………………………………………………………….

h) Please show me the book. You enjoyed reading the book so much.…………………………………………………………………………….

i) I met a friend last week. Her daughter is an anthropologist.…………………………………………………………………………….

j) This is the new president. We voted for him.…………………………………………………………………………….