Relative Clauses & Relative Pronouns RELATIVE PRONOUNS

RELATIVE CLAUSES: USE Example: dependent clauses give additional information about something without starting another sentence by combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words Example: I like working with students who want to learn something. I downloaded a new film which is really interesting.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS WHO (subject) PEOPLE WHOM (object) WHICH THINGS introduce relative clauses relative clause tells us which person / thing the speaker means / refers to WHO (subject) PEOPLE WHOM (object) WHICH THINGS WHOSE (posession) THAT --------→ instead of WHO, WHOM, WHICH WHERE WHEN RELATIVE ADVERBS WHY: the reason why

Example: They are learning relative clause. The students The students are smart. They are learning relative clause. The students who are learning relative clauses are smart. ‘who’ is used instead of ‘they’

Remember: the pronoun refers to the same thing as the relative pronoun e.g. The girl is my sister. You saw her yesterday. A: The girl whom you saw her yesterday is my sister. → The girl whom you saw yesterday is my sister.

Relative adverbs WHY: THE REASON WHY I didn’t get a pay rise – that was the reason why I left. I didn’t get a pay rise – that was the reason (that) I left. WHERE The street where we used to play as kids is very busy now. WHEN He will never forget the day when he started working in that company.

TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES Defining relative clauses give important information to identify the person or thing we are talking about.→ We don’t use a comma. The office equipment (which / that) we bought was very expensive. The student (who/ that) I saw yesterday is from Spain. Non-defining relative clauses give additional information about the person or thing we are talking about. → We use a comma. Mr Jones, who is the CEO of the company, will retire soon. The Smiths, who live next door, have bought a new car.

RELATIVE CLAUSES DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES WHO WHOM WHICH THAT WHEN, WHERE DEFINING vs. NON-DEFINING CLAUSES SHORT NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES WHO WHOM WHICH WHEN, WHERE

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES SUBJECT - The person who phoned me last night is my teacher. - The person that phoned me last night is my teacher. "that" is preferable - The car which hit me was yellow. - The car that hit me was yellow.

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES OBJECT - The person whom I phoned last night is my teacher. - The people who I phoned last night are my teachers. - The person that I phoned last night is my teacher. - The person I phoned last night is my teacher. "whom" is correct but formal relative pronoun is optional - The car which I drive is old. - The car that I drive is old. - The car I drive is old. "that" is preferable to "which" relative pronoun is optional

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES POSSESSIVE - The student whose phone just rang should stand up. - Students whose parents are wealthy pay extra.   - The police are looking for the car whose driver was masked. - The police are looking for the car of which the driver was masked. "whose" can be used with things "of which" is also possible

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE SUBJECT - Mrs Pratt, who is very kind, is my teacher.   - The car, which was a taxi, exploded. - The cars, which were taxis, exploded. OBJECT - Mrs Pratt, whom I like very much, is my teacher. - Mrs Pratt, who I like very much, is my teacher. "whom" is correct but formal "who" is common in spoken English and informal written English - The car, which I was driving at the time, suddenly caught fire.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE POSSESSIVE - My brother, whose phone you just heard, is a doctor.   - The car, whose driver jumped out just before the accident, was completely destroyed. - The car, the driver of which jumped out just before the accident, was completely destroyed. "whose" can be used with things "of which" is also possible

PREPOSITIONS + RELATIVE CLAUSES FORMAL STYLE: we usually put a preposition before the relative pronoun and we use whom instead of who The office to which Graham took us was filled with books. LESS FORMAL STYLE: we usually put the preposition at the end of the relative clause The office that Graham took us to was filled with books More examples: That’s the car for which I paid $2,000. (more formal) That’s the car which / that I paid $2,000 for. (more usual) That’s the car I paid $2,000 for. (everyday English)

Review & exercises: DEFINING vs NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES 15 sentences with key more exercises

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