1. The complex sentence.

Relative Clauses
Introduction
n

Relative clauses work like adjectives:

e.g. The bridge that collapsed in the winter storm will cost millions to replace.
Compare:
e.g. The old bridge will cost millions to replace.

In the same way as adjectives, they modify the noun, though they appear in a
different position.
While adjectives precede the noun (they are premodifiers), relative clauses go after
it (they are postmodifiers).
Therefore, the relative clause functions as a constituent of noun a phrase.
A relative clause is one of the possible patterns/ constructions that can be used for
the function of postmodifier. Other possible patterns for Postmodification are:
n

Prepositional phrase
e.g. The man in the room
Non-finite clause
e.g. The price to pay

When we use a relative clause, a Finite clause is used:

e.g. The man who is in the room
Different aspects must be considered in Relative clauses:

Antecedent: person vs thing

Functions of the relative pronoun: Subject (S), Object (O), Pepositional Object
(Prep O), Possessive (Poss)
Defining (restrictive/ identifying) vs non-defining (non-restrictive/ adding)
relative clauses (R Cl)
Writing vs speech
Nominal R Cl, Sentential R Cl, Adverbial R Cl, short R Cl

1. Antecedent
Person vs thing
Who
Personal antecedent
e.g. The man who stole the money

Which
That

Non-personal antecedent (formal)

e.g. My car, which I like, is too old
Personal & non-personal antecedents
e.g. The boy that shouted at me
The house that Ive bought

(informal)

However:
That is preferred to which in the following cases:
n The antecedent is all, everything
e.g. Ask me everything that you need
n The antecedent is premodified by a superlative
e.g. This is the best film that I have ever seen
n The antecedent is premodified by an ordinal
e.g. This is the first exercise that Ive been able to do
n The antecedent is complement of be
e.g. This is the house that we like
Which is preferred to that when the antecedent takes a (long) postmodifier:
e.g. I have interests outside my work and its problems which make my life
complete
Which (NOT that) must be used in non-restrictive relative clauses (to be explained
later).
e.g. This house, which was built in the 1960s, is in danger of collapse
That vs who
That is preferred to who after generalized pronouns or Ns and indefinite pronouns:
e.g. I need a man/ someone that can repair my car
cf. The uncle who came to visit me (definite antecedent: its clear that you
mean only one)
Who must be used in non-restrictive relative clauses.
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swer/page36.shtml (Audio)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv313.sht
ml
2. Functions of the relative pronoun
n

Subject
2

e.g. The postcard that came this morning was from Chris
The postcard was from Chris
It came this morning
*The postcard that it came this morning
n

WRONG!!

Object
e.g. The castle that we visited was really interesting
The castle was really interesting
We visited it
*The castle that we visited it

WRONG!!

When the relative pronoun is Object:

n Omission of the pronoun is possible (esp. spoken English):
e.g. The castle we visited
n Whom
e.g. This is a person whom (who/ that/ 0) you should know
Not very common in conversation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionan
swer/page12.shtml (Audio)
n

Prepositional object
Usually, the preposition is placed at the end (esp. Spoken English):
e.g. This is the person whom/ who/ that/ 0 you spoke to
A more formal option is:
e.g. This is the person to whom you spoke
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_question
answer/page52.shtml (Audio)

The preposition cannot be moved freely in:

n

Phrasal verbs (preposition next to the verb)

e.g. The person that (whom/ who/ 0) he takes after is his mother
NOT *The person after whom he takes is his other

Long relative clauses (preposition before pronoun)

e.g. He referred to the manor house in the neighbouring village, with which the
local people feel they have no social or historical connections
NOT ??He referred to the manor house in the neighbouring village, which the
local people feel they have no social or historical connections with

Possessive
Whose
Mainly used with people
e.g. She is the woman whose car has been robbed
(= the car belonging to her)
This is the car whose windows have been broken
This is the car the windows of which have been broken

3. Defining vs non-defining relative clauses

e.g. The students who attend lectures will probably pass the exam
(Only those who attend lectures will probably pass)
Defining (also restrictive, identifying) Relative Clause
cf. The students, who attend lectures, will probably pass the exam
(All the students will probably pass since all the students attend lectures)
Non-defining (also non-restrictive, adding, explicative) Relative Clause
Non-defining relative clauses
n Between commas (dashes or brackets)
n *That is not possible
n No omission of pronoun
n Rather formal (writing) (in speech its more common to use two short clauses)
4. Writing vs speech
Writing
n Which
n Whom
n Preposition before pronoun
n Non-restrictive relative clauses
5. Other relative clauses

Nominal relative clauses (vs adnominal)

Their function is nominal (NOT adjectival)
e.g. Did you hear what I said?
The relative clause functions as a noun (Object). Compare:
e.g. Did you hear his speech?
The antecedent is included within the pronoun what. Therefore, the following
sentence is wrong:
e.g. *Did you hear everything what I said?
what = the things that
# that
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv218.s
html

Emphatic:
e.g. What Chris is looking for is a higher position
(instead of Chris is looking for a higher position)
Different parts of the sentence can be emphasized, or even whole clauses:
e.g. What they did was book a holiday together
(instead of They booked a holiday together)
Other emphatic construction:
It + be + relative clause
e.g. It was John who had an accident Subject
(cf. John had an accident)
It is the computer that gives me a headache
(cf. The computer gives me a headache)
It is chocolate cake (that) Im eating
Object
(cf. Im eating chocolate cake)
It was on Thursday that he died Adverbial
(cf. He died on Thursday)
n

Sentential relative clauses

e.g. Sarah had to work late again, which annoyed Mark
The antecedent is the whole sentence before
They are separated with a comma
Only which can be used!:
Typical mistake: *Sarah had to work late again, what annoyed Mark
5

Adverbial relative clauses

They have a relative adverb, instead of a relative pronoun
e.g. Do you remember the day when (that/ 0) we moved?
The reason why (that/ 0) we moved is that we bought a bigger house
This is the place where the accident happened

Short relative clauses

Relative pronoun and finite verb are omitted
Active
e.g. There are delays this morning for people travelling to work
(= who are travelling to work)
However:
cf. The police want to interview the people who saw (NOT *seeing) the accident
Single action in the past
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv106.s
html

Passive
e.g. We noticed a pile of stones left on the road
(= which had been left...)
n

Relative clauses with a to-infinitive

Ordinals
e.g. He was the first (man) to arrive
Restrictive items
e.g. He was the only famous person to arrive
Superlatives
e.g. He was the youngest (person) to arrive

Omission of the N is possible if the meaning is clear (except with only)