Attributive clauses

The aim of the lesson is to teach you to use attributive clauses of two kinds. You'll also learn to differentiate between ideas and facts in order to make your narration more objective.

Task 1. Choice of articles.

This is A constant story I keep telling my daughter who is four years old.

She gets something from it and wants to hear it again and again.

"Once when I was A little kid, just your age, my mother and father took me

on A picnic to Mount Rainer. We drove up there in AN old car and saw A deer standing in THE middle of THE road.

"We came to A meadow with SNOW in THE shadow of TREES and in places where

THE sun didn't shine.

"There were FLOWERS in THE meadow and they looked beautiful. In THE middle of THE meadow there was A huge rock and DADDY walked over to THE rock and found A hole in THE centre of it, and looked inside. THE rock was hollow as A small room.

"Daddy crawled inside The rock and sat there staring at THE blue sky and THE wild flowers. He really liked that rock and pretended it was A house, and we played inside THE rock all afternoon.

"He got some smaller rocks and took them inside The big rock. He pretended that THE smaler rocks were A stove and FURNITURE and he cooked A meal, using WILD FLOWERS for food.

That's THE end of THE story. She has heard it THIRTY TIMES, and always wants to hear it again. I think she uses it as A kind of DOOR to THE discovery of her father when he was A child.

Task 2. Pronunciation drill.

on board the ship	watched them playing	walked out on him
he went ashore	pale with anger	burst out crying
absent-minded	knows three languages	mad with happiness
very stout	punctuality	cowardly

It is customary to distinguish two types of attributive clauses in the English language: RESTRICTIVE and DESCRIPTIVE .

Thus, RESTRICTIVE attributive clauses IDENTIFY the object (explaining which one you mean). E.g.: "The man who lives next door is very friendly."

The clause "who lives next door" is a part of a sentence. It tells us which person (thing, kind of person or thing) the speaker means. In attributive clauses of this type we usually use "WHO" when we are talking about people (e.g.: "The girl who was injured in the accident is now in hospital"). When we are talking about things we usually use "THAT" in these clauses: "Where are the eggs that were in the fridge?"

DESCRIPTIVE attributive clauses of the second type SUPPLY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION about some object: "Tom`s father, who is 78, goes swimming every day". In this example the relative clause does not tell us which person (or thing) the speaker means. We already know it. The relative clause gives us extra information about the person (or thing). In "extra information" attributive clauses you have to use "WHO" for people & "WHICH" for things. The second type of clause is separated from the principal clause by commas &, in oral speech, by pauses.

Task 3. Explain the function of the following sentences and reproduce them with the proper intonation.

People (,) who appreciate money more than friendship (,) make a great mistake.

Girls (,) who like to go to discos (,) are absent-minded.

The boy (,) who is eating a sandwich (,) should have a diet.

The men (,) who had been working the whole day (,) looked very tired.

The girl (,) who is very stout (,) dances beautifully.

The woman(,) who is getting off the bus (,) is very attractive.

Mrs. Black (,) who is very clever (,) works as a translator.

John (,) who is our son(,) is getting married this week.

Task 4. Turn each pair of sentences into one with an attributive clause and reproduce it with the proper intonation.

The bus was five minutes late. The bus took us to the station.

Mr.Smith was very angry. I had sold my old car to Mr.Smith.

The man is speaking to the hostess. He has just returned from Norway.

The girl was pale with anger. She had never been so humiliated.

Some people go bathing in winter. They seldom catch colds.

The lecture was not very hard to understand. We had it last Tuesday.

Task 5. MAKE UP SENTENCES keeping in mind that this kind of attributive clause supplies additional information about the person in question, either explaining his behavior or expressing surprise at his behavior.

The young man The child The teacher, The visitor, The old lady, The student My neighbour The girl,

who had been away for a long time whose self-confidence had returned who was very nervous who had been ill for month who was sure he knew the lesson well whom I had always found boring who was very absent- minded

began speaking fluently. burst out crying. didn't know the latest local news. had lots of things to tell us. was difficult to recognize. had fallen asleep by supper-time. looked pale and worn-out. had left the book behind. felt very lonely. couldn't utter a word. suddenly turned out a very pleasant companion.

Task 6. Fill in the blanks making your own attributive clauses, either identifying the object or providing additional information about it.

e.g. (Some) children never catch colds. - Children who go in for sports never catch colds. We must pay more attention to sport at school.

The driver,........., bumped into a massive tree and was badly hurt.

(Some) people,......., can never be good teachers.

The guest,....., went on chatting and didn't feel like going to bed.

The girl,......, was mad with happiness.

(Some) people,........., annoy me incredibly!

Task 7. . Reproduce the dialogue "FORGED NOTE":

(X is a policeman. Y was given a forged 20$ note by Z and used it in buing a hat.

Z says that he has never seen the note before.)

X: 'This is the man that gave you the note?

Y: Yes: that's the man, and that is the note which he ave me.

X: And this is the same note which you gave in the shop?

Y: Yes. That is the note which I gave to the shop-man.

X: Have you a nother twenty dollar note anywhere?

Y: Oh yes: I have this note which I got from the bank.

X: How do you know that this is the note which the man gave you?

Y: Because the note that I got from the bank has some ink on the corner.

X: And this note, that this man gave you, hasn't?

Z: Yes, it has!

X: Oh! It has, has it? And how do you know that?

Z: Oh! ... Oh...!

X: You come a long with me!

Task 8. They say silence is gold and you'd better not utter a word if it may betray

you. Z himself is to blame that he has been caught. Can you recollect any situation in which it was better for you not to speak at all but you DID? Did it bring lots of trouble to you?

.

The aim of the lesson remains the same.

Task 1. Pronunciation drill.

on the at the was the in the

something everything anything nothing

red in the face closed the door walked silently on

We can't throw him overboard! without another word had appeared round the corner

Task 2. Give your own sentences with the same rhythmic and grammatical patterns.

Task 3. Give your ideas about the following types of people:

People

who

can't take a joke are lonely have no one to take care of have no one to depend on have no sense of humour have suffered much had a happy childhood have a happy home are easily hurt never had brothers or sisters

usually become selfish. have to be resourceful. are usually optimistic. (pessimistic). can't be very good company. are usually generous & kind. have no sense of responsibility. usually keep pets. are often helpless. can(not) make very good teachers. often can't understand others. may find it difficult to communicate. make friends very easily.

Task 4. Give you own ideas to the following situations. Write attributive clauses.

1. People, who ….drive me crazy.

2. Girls, who….can’t be called honorable.

3. Children, who…. get on their parents’ nerves.

4. Men, who….will be never respected by women.

5. People, who……never make a success in life.

6. Men, who……don’t marry till the old age.

7. Girls, who…..will be never respected by men.

8. Teachers, who….are loved by their pupils all their life.

9. Parents, who…..are respected by their children.

10. People, who….are the best parents.

Task 5. Back translation.

Люди, которые недостаточно воспитаны, часто неадекватно реагируют на критику. Они не могут признать свои ошибки, даже если бывают неправы. Нежелание получить новые знания обуславливается нежеланием признать то, что они им необходимы. Такие люди вряд ли заслуживают уважения других. Дети, которые неважно учатся в школе, часто вызывают негодование у учителей. Но причиной этому нередко является равнодушие их родителей. Родители не следят за тем, как дети выполняют уроки, и не заботятся о дополнительном образовании для своих детей. В результате дети ничем не интересуются и проводят все свободное время за компьютером.

Task 6. Enlarge any situation of the previous task and write a dialogue.

Task 7. Comment on the following saying.

Those who are quite satisfied, sit still and do nothing; those who are not quite satisfied are the sole benefactors of the world.  (Walter Savage Landor)