1.7. Relative clauses

Relative clauses are introduced with a) relative pronouns (who(m), which, whose, that, what) and b) relative adverbs (when, where, why).

We use who to refer to people, which to refer to objects or animals and that, whose to refer to both categories.

Whom is very unusual, especially in informal English, and is generally omitted or replaced with who, except when the pronoun is preceded by a preposition. Then whom (for people) or which (for things) should be used.

Whose is used to show possession.

Where refers to a place, when refers to time and why - to a reason

Which can refer back to a whole clause. In this case it is separated with comma.

Examples:

That’s the man who you met yesterday. It was a day when everything seemed to go wrong.

The woman who/ that is crossing the road is my mother-in-law.

The dog which/ that is lying over there is mine.

The only people with whom he could discuss the plan were those who knew of it already.

This is something for which you must constantly be on the lookout.

She works for a company whose chief executive has been arrested for fraud. Mr Brown, whose son broke our win­dow when playing football, called me yesterday.

The hotel (where) / (which ...at) we

stayed at was so lovely.

Is there any reason why he can't come?

I won’t do that;, which will certainly make her upset.

Who, which, that can be omitted when they function as the object of the rela­tive clause. The relative cannot be omitted if it is the subject of the rela­tive clause.

Whose cannot be omitted.

What* means 'the thing that'. (*Such clauses are also often qualified as nottn-clauses)

There are two types of relative clauses: defining (identifying) and non­defining (non-identifying).

A defining relative clause gives neces­sary information, essential to the mean­ing of the main clause. That’s why it cannot be omitted. It is not put in commas. This clause is introduced with who, which, that, whose, where, when, why, who, which, that can be omitted (when they function as the object). Where can be omitted when there is a preposition.

When and why can either be replaced by that or can be omitted.

Which and that are often interchange­able. In defining clauses, however, that is commonly used instead of which af­ter superlatives, every (thing), all, only, some(thing), any(thing), no(thing), none, little, few and much. A non-defining relative clause is intro­duced with who, whom, which, whose, where, when. They cannot be omitted or replaced by that.

Sometimes the same clause can be both types: defining (identifying) and non­defining (non-identifying), but with a different meaning.

The book (that) I told you about is on sale now.

He that travels far knows much.

I’ll explain what he said.

What I like for breakfast is hot but­tered toast.

A philatelist is a man who/ that col­lects stamps

That’s the church we were married at.

There must be some reason why he looked pleased.

The reason that they liked the restau­rant was its anonymity.

That is the reason I asked you.

It was the strangest case that had ever come to Dr Martin’s notice. No disor­der that he had read about had such bi­zarre symptoms.

My cat, which I found in the street, is called Monty.

My daughter(,) who works in New York(y) is getting married soon:

1. I have several daughters and 1 mean the one in New York (= defining);

2. I’m proud of the fact that she works in New York and I want to stress it (= non-defining).

in non-defining clauses, determiners like some, all, neither, none, (a) few, (a) little, both, most, much and several, superlatives and expressions of quantity can be used with of whom (for peple ) and of which (for things).

They'll introduce you to a lot of people, most of whom you’ll forget immedi­ately.

I was offered lamb and chicken, nei­ther of which I like.

Exercise I. Underline the relative pronouns in the following sentences. Say whether each relative pronoun is a subject or an object.

1. The other law that affects your time is one you’ve heard for years.

2. Pick an hour of the day when you feel your best.

3. Just tell... those with whom you deal outside the company that you are not available for that specific hour...

4. Once people who work with you get the idea they will plan to see you before your quiet hour begins.

5. You will be more and more enthusiastic ... when you realize the amount of work that you will accomplish during this hour.

6. I must've left my keys in the shop where we bought the bread.

7.She’s the only person that knows how to operate the computer.

8. Don’t look now! That's the man whose car I backed into.

9. He's the funniest comedian that I’ve ever seen.

10. Give me one good reason why I should trust you.

Exercise 2. Complete the following sentences with a suitable relative or a relative clause.

1. Alexander Fleming was the man penicillin.

2. ’Candy' is the word when the British would say ’sweet’.

3. Bats are the only mammals

4. Burkino Faso is a country Upper Volta.

5. Santa Maria was the name of the ship in 1492.

6. The FIFA World cup is a tournament four years,

7. Nobody knows the reason dinosaurs died out 65 million years

ago.

8. David Copperfield is one of the best-known books wrote.

Examples: 1-b: I'll pay for what I broke', 2-f: What I need is a drink.

BEGINNINGS	ENDS
Г11 pay for I need Did you read about He just teaches you I want to know The dog can have The holiday wasn't at all They hadn’t got You misunderstood - that isn’t You said	happened to poor Harry? I broke. I don't eat. I expected. I meant. is a drink. made me very happy. she asked for. is where's my car gone? j) you already know.

Exercise 4. Put in which or what

1. She cycles to work every day, keeps her healthy.

2. I very much liked you said at the meeting.

3. They gave me I asked for.

4. The lights suddenly went out, frightened Granny terribly.

5. This is I need.

6. Everybody arrived late, didn't surprise me in the least.

7. The door was locked, was a nuisance.

8. He wouldn’t tell me I wanted to know,

9. She let me borrow one of her dresses, was very kind of her.

10. We’re going to have to repair the roof, will cost a fortune.

Exercise 5. Join the beginnings and ends combining a) meaningful sentences b) proverbs. Translate the proverbs into Russian.

a)

BEGINNINGS	ENDS
a) All the poetry	I) that happened.
b) At school I learnt	2) that he wrote was de­
nothing	stroyed in a fire.
c) I've told you every­	3) that she said made any dif­
thing	ference.
d) Nothing	4) that was ever made.
e) It’s the best western	5) that I could get.
film
f) The most useful	6) that was useful to me.
thing
g) This is the only hire	7) that you can do is leave
car	now.

h) You can have eve-	8) that you want.
rything

BEGINNINGS	ENDS
a) Hle that fears the bushes h) He that travels far c) He that sups with the devil d) He that will eat the ker­nel e) He that never climbed 1) He that comes first to the hill	may sit where he will must crack the nut must never go a- birding knows much must have a long spoon never fell

Exercise 6. .loin the following sentences, as in the example.

1. My brother has lots of friends. Many of them are in his class.

My brother has lots of friends, many of whom are in his class.

2. My father has a large collection of coins. Many of them are foreign.

3. I baked lots of biscuits yesterday. Very few of them are left now.

4. She knows lots of people at work. A few of them are from New Zealand.

5. I have four aunts. None of them are married.

6. There are thousand of trees in the forest. Some of them are very old.

7. The room was packed with people. Amy had never seen many of them before.

8. He devotes most of his words to two topics: money and health. He seemed to lack each of them in equal measure.

9. He remains a great admirer of Warhol. He owns several of his pictures.

10. They heard two voices ahead. One of them suddenly rose above the other in anger.

11. They have two sizes of mixing bowl. The larger one inverts over the scales for easy storage.

12. She gave birth to eight children. The youngest died in 1954.

Exercise 7. Look at these examples of relative clauses and say whether they are defining or non-defining:

3. All the 14-year-olds have some of their lessons in a special unit for children who have fallen behind on reading, writing and maths ...

4. Jean Bond, who is running the special unit while on sabbatical from Warwick University’s education department, says...

5. The boy I've been teaching does the same.

6. ... says 8-year-old Jenny of her tutor, Cliff McFarlane, who, among his own teachers, has the reputation of being a bit of a handful

7. Jean Bond, who describes pupil tutoring as an ’educational conjuring trick', has run two previous experiments.

8. The degree of concentration they showed ... was remarkable for pupils who had previously shown little ability to concentrate on anything related to schoolwork...

9. Their view of education, which they had previously dismissed as ’crap’ and ’a waste of time’, was transformed.

10. Unfortunately Frank Wolf, who would never have agreed, was away at the time.

Exercise 8. a) Say if the gaps in the following sentences are likely to be filled with defining or non-defining relative clauses, or whether both are possible.

1. I don’t like having to talk to people .

2. Peter Smith rang you earlier.

3. Politicians are a dishonorable bunch of people.

4. I’ll show you the photographs

5. The Houses of Parliament stand on the river Thames.

6. My children are coming with us on a trip to America.

7. I gave her a piece of cake .

8. I’d like you to meet someone .

9. The British police are highly trained.

10. My cat is getting a little overweight.

10. .My cat’s name is Wally. The only food is the most expensive brand.

12. He is a very happy cat. Dogs are his only source of worry in the

world.

b) Below are the missing relative clauses. Put them into the correct sentence in part a changing punctuation, if necessary. Some of the clauses could be both types. Which are they?

7. .. .deceive the public...

7. .. .likes to sleep in front of the fire all day..

9. ...carry guns...

10.....still go to school...

11. ..chase cats...

12. . .lives in Bradford, not the one who lives in Chester...

Exercise 9. Explain the difference in meaning between each pair of sentences.

0. a) She decided to take the first train that stopped in Strasbourg; b) She de­cided to take the first train, which stopped in Strasbourg.

1. a) The people, who hadn't seen the weather forecast, were caught unawares by the hurricane; b) The people who hadn't seen the weather forecast were caught unawares by the hurricane.

2. a) We couldn't eat the food, which was bad; b) We couldn't eat the food that was bad.

3. a) I was hoping to visit my cousin, who lives in New Zealand; b) I was hop­ing to visit my cousin who lives in New Zealand.

4. a) They picked all the fruit that had ripened; b) They picked all the fruit, which had ripened.

Exercise 10. a) In the following sentences, omit the relative pronoun or replace it with that where possible:

1. The book which you borrowed from me is long overdue at the library. 2. We called at a pub which is said to be the oldest in England,

3. They eventually decided to part with their old car, which had given them so many years of loyal service.

4. You should make sure that the travel agency which you deal with is a member of AВТА.

5. I asked to speak to the manager, who turned out to have left the company.