BASIC LEVEL 2
Relative clauses are subordinate clauses. Relative clauses function as adjectives: The blue jacket The jacket which is blue But the relative clause comes after the noun, while adjectives usually come before the noun.
They give important information about a noun or pronoun: they define exactly who or what we are talking about: The man who has brown hair is my brother. Without the information of the relative clause “who has brown hair” we can’t identify the man. However, in the following sentence: My brother, who has brown hair, is very young. “Who has brown hair” doesn’t help us identify the man. We don’t put a comma between the noun and the defining relative clause: It’s a book which tells you how to relax. They are introduced by subordinators: - Relative pronouns: who, which, that - Relative adverbs: where, why, when
WHO - it is the subject in the relative clause and makes reference to a person: The boy who lives next door has gone into hospital. THAT: 1) It is the subject in the relative clause and makes reference to a person: The boy that lives next door has gone into hospital. 2) It is the subject in the relative clause and makes reference to a thing: I bought the coat that was in the shop window.
WHICH : 1) It is the subject in the relative clause and makes reference to a thing: I bought the coat which was in the shop window. 2) WHICH … PREPOSITION: it can be: - an adverbial of place and makes reference to a place: The hotel which we stayed in was very comfortable. - a prepositional complement: This is the car which I paid $ 2,000 for. 3) PREPOSITION + WHICH: It’s formal. It can be: - an adverbial of place and makes reference to a place: The hotel in which we stayed was very comfortable. - a prepositional complement: An MP3 is something with which you listen to music.
WHERE : it is an adverbial of place and makes reference to a place: The hotel where we stayed was very comfortable. WHEN: it is an adverbial of time and makes reference to a time expression: I’ll never forget the day when I first met him. WHY: it is an adverbial of reason and it always makes reference to the word “reason”: The reason why Nick came was that he wanted to see Rita.
BASIC LEVEL 2 Created by: Carmen Luisa Pérez Amaro