ФГБОУ ВПО "ЛИПЕЦКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИЙ

УНИВЕРСИТЕТ"

Синтаксические особенности английского языка

учебное пособие для студентов III курса английского отделения факультета иностранных языков

Липецк

2014

УДК – 43 (071.1)	Печатается по решению
ББК 81.432.1 – 923	кафедры английского языка

Погорелова И.В., Стурова Е.А. Синтаксические особенности английского языка: учебное пособие по практике для студентов 3 курса английского отделения факультета иностранных языков / И.В. Погорелова, Е.А. Стурова. – Липецк: ЛГПУ, 2011. – 102 с.

Пособие представляет собой комплекс учебных материалов, предназначенный для освоения дисциплины "Синтаксические особенности английского языка". Рекомендовано для работы на дневном и заочном отделениях.

Clauses relative clauses

Relative clauses serve as an attribute to some noun or pronoun in the principal clause. This noun or pronoun is called an antecedent ["æntI'si:dənt]. Relative clauses are often indicated by who (for people), which (for things) and that (for both), or introduced asyndetically, i.e. without any connectives (contact clauses). That refers to people in an informal style.

e.g. Have you ever spoken to the people who / that live next door?

e.g. There's a programme on tonight which you might like.

Subject and Object Relative Clauses

The noun which is being described by a relative clause can be either the subject or the object of the relative clause:

e.g. The man [who normally works here] is ill. (= he normally works here) [He is the subject, so this is a subject relative clause]

e.g. The man [who you saw yesterday] is ill. (= you saw him yesterday) [Him is the object, so this is an object relative clause]

Relative clauses may be of two kinds: limiting (or defining) and descriptive (or non-defining).

Limiting clauses limit and define more clearly the antecedent, i.e. they explain (= define) exactly who or what is being discussed. The limiting clause is placed immediately after the noun, which it describes, and is not separated from the rest of the sentence by comma:

e.g. I was talking to a person who had worked with my father.

e.g. The car that I wanted to buy was too expensive.

Descriptive clauses give additional information about the subject being discussed, but it is not essential information. They may be omitted without affecting the precise understanding of the sentence as a whole. They are indicated by the use of comma before and after the clause:

e.g. This is Ms Rogers, who's joining the firm next week.

e.g. In 1908 Ford developed his Model T car, which sold for $500.

The difference between the limiting and the descriptive clauses is important because:

• They can change the meaning of a sentence

e.g. I have two sisters who are living in New York at the moment. (limiting) = I have more sisters who live somewhere else

e.g. I have two sisters, who are living in New York at the moment. (descriptive) = These are my only sisters and now they are in new York

• Different relative pronouns (who, that, which, etc.) are used for defining or non-defining clauses

Contact clause is a relative limiting clause without who, that or which. Then the two parts of the sentence are more closely joined together.

e.g. Have you seen the dress that I’ve just bought? (Limiting clause) → Have you seen the dress I’ve just bought? (Contact clause)