Group 2 GVD Class 5 Relative Clauses Continued Mark Holloway

Before we check your homework, let’s have a quick review of what we studied on Monday. In each pair of sentences below, one is correct and one is not. For each case, select the correct sentence and tell your partner why it is “better” than the other sentence. A. My mother is the only woman I love. B. My mother is the only woman who I love her. A. My mother is the only woman who I don’t like her cooking. B. My mother is the only woman whose cooking I don’t like. A. My mother’s cooking is the only food which makes me feel sick! B. My mother’s cooking is the only food where it makes me feel sick. A. My mother is the woman who taught me right from wrong. B. My mother is the woman taught me right from wrong.

Did you choose these sentences? A. My mother is the only woman I love. B. My mother is the only woman who I love her. A. My mother is the only woman who I don’t like her cooking. B. My mother is the only woman whose cooking I don’t like. A. My mother’s cooking is the only food which makes me feel sick! B. My mother’s cooking is the only food where it makes me feel sick. A. My mother is the woman who taught me right from wrong. B. My mother is the woman taught me right from wrong.

And just a few more... A. My mother’s house is the building we painted yellow. B. My mother’s house is the building where we painted yellow. A. My mother ‘s house is the place where I spent Friday night. B. My mother’s house is the place where I spent Friday night at. A. My mother is the person who I write letters to every night. B. My mother is the person who I write letters every night. A. Defining relative clauses are the grammar feature we are studying. B. Defining relative clauses are the grammar feature which we are studying them.

I’m sure you got these right: A. My mother’s house is the building we painted yellow. B. My mother’s house is the building where we painted yellow. A. My mother ‘s house is the place where I spent Friday night. B. My mother’s house is the place where I spent Friday night at. A. My mother is the person who I write letters to every night. B. My mother is the person who I write letters every night. A. Defining relative clauses are the grammar feature we are studying. B. Defining relative clauses are the grammar feature which we are studying them.

Look back at page 14 of Focus on First Certificate and look at your answers to exercise 3. - answers will appear here -

a)The house we used to live in has just been sold. b)The old lady who lives across the road has got eight cats. c)The friend you were looking for has just come in. d)The old chair my grandmother left me in her will is worth a fortune. e)I bought my watch at a local shop whose name I can’t remember. f)The write whose latest book was published on Tuesday lives in New York. g)My neighbour who has been to Sao Paulo says he’s never seen anything like it. or.. My neighbours says he’s never seen anything like Sao Paulo, where he has just been.

Another dimension of relative clauses!

Can you change the meaning of this sentence without adding any words or changing the word order? My sister who is a nurse has two cats.

Can you change the meaning of this sentence without adding any words or changing the word order? My sister who is a nurse has two cats. My sister, who is a nurse, has two cats.

My sister who is a nurse has two cats. In this sentence, how many sisters do I have? What is the function of the relative clause “who is a nurse”?

My sister, who is a nurse, has two cats. In this sentence, how many sisters do I have? What is the function of the relative clause “who is a nurse”?

Defining relative clause: My sister who is a nurse has two cats. Non-defining relative clause: My sister, who is a nurse, has two cats.

Look at this encyclopaedia entry. How many relative clauses can you find? What is the purpose of each one? Brick: ceramic structural material which is made by pressing clay into blocks and firing them in a kiln. Bricks, which in their most primitive form were not fired but were hardened by being dried in the sun, have been used for thousands of years. Examples from approximately 5,000 years ago have been discovered in the Tigris-Euphrates basin, and the ancient races who occupied this region may have been the first users of brick. In Babylonia, where there was a lack of both timber and stone, the thick clay deposited by the overflowing rivers was the only material adaptable to building. adapted from Rebecca Hughes, Exploring Grammar in Writing (Cambridge 2005)

Look at this encyclopaedia entry. How many relative clauses can you find? What is the purpose of each one? Brick: ceramic structural material which is made by pressing clay into blocks and firing them in a kiln. Bricks, which in their most primitive form were not fired but were hardened by being dried in the sun, have been used for thousands of years. Examples from approximately 5,000 years ago have been discovered in the Tigris-Euphrates basin, and the ancient races who occupied this region may have been the first users of brick. In Babylonia, where there was a lack of both timber and stone, the thick clay deposited by the overflowing rivers was the only material adaptable to building.

Complete the exercises on Non-defining relative clauses on page 15 of your textbook.

Exercise 4 a)Wimbledon, which is famous for its annual tennis tournament, is in South London. b)He’s hoping to be chosen for the next Olympic Games, which will be held in London in c)The Prime Minister, who is blind in one eye, will face an election soon. d)Every schoolchild has heard of Columbus, who discovered America in e)Mount Everest, which is in the Himalayas, is the highest mountain in the world.

Exercise 4 consideration: what’s wrong with the following sentences? a)Wimbledon, that is famous for its annual tennis tournament, is in South London. b)He’s hoping to be chosen for the next Olympic Games, that will be held in London in c)The Prime Minister, that is blind in one eye, will face an election soon. d)Every schoolchild has heard of Columbus, that discovered America in e)Mount Everest, which is in the Himalayas, that the highest mountain in the world. Rule: Don’t use THAT in a non-defining relative clause!

Exercise 5 a)A corkscrew is a device which removes corks from bottles. b)I’ve just read his third novel, which is his best. c)The person I spoke to yesterday was very rude. d)They gave their car, which was very old, to their son. e)Take the road which is signposted to York. f)The book I recommended to you is out of print. g)I met your friend Jane, who wants to be a pop singer. h)The man who was supposed to meet me didn’t turn up.

Exercise 5 considerations: When the verb BE is used in a relative pronoun, it’s possible to omit both the relative pronoun AND the verb. So… Take the road which is signposted to York. is actually more natural as: Take the road signposted to York. The comma in the sentence I met your friend Jane, who wants to be a pop singer assumes that you only have one friend called Jane. Of course, if you know several Janes, you could say I met your friend Jane who wants to be a pop star meaning not the other Jane who wants to be a librarian, for example.