RELATIVE CLAUSES
(TOP MARKS UNIT 5, P 58. 122 )
Burlington Books
RELATIVE CLAUSES.
A.- DEFINITION.
a relative clause contains essential or extra information
about people or things.
B.- RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
whose, which, who, when, where, that
C.- TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES.
- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES:
ex: Japan is a country where earthquakes are very
common.
- NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES:
ex: Elephants, which are very heavy, can live for many
years.
RELATIVE CLAUSES.
B.- RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
whose, which, who, when, where, that
-We use WHERE to refer to places.
ex: Sri Lanka is a place where people like to go on holiday.
-We use THAT / WHO to refer to people / pets.
ex: I remembered all the things that my yoga training had taught me.
-We use WHEN to refer to time.
ex: I´ll always remember the morning when it happened.
-We use WHOSE to refer to possesion.
ex: The tsunami, whose effects were terrible, will never be forgotten.
-We use THAT / WHICH to refer to things.
ex: the wave, which was over a metre high, came out of nowhere.
C.- TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES.
1.- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES:
-contain essential information about people or things.
-Relative pronouns: who, which, that, whose, can be omitted if they are
not subject of the sentence.
-“When” refers to time, “that” can be used, or can be omitted.
-“Where” refers to place, it never can be omitted or place by “that”.
uses
examples
WHO / THAT refer to people
I talked to a man who / that survived the
earthquake
WHICH / THAT refer to objects
The medicines which / that we´re using are
from the Red Cross
WHEN refers to a moment in
time
It was in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New
Orleans.
WHERE refers to a particular
place
Japan is a country where earthquakes are very
common.
WHOSE refers to possesion
He´s the boy whose mother saved many
people´s lives.
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES.
When the subject can be omitted?: who , which, that, whose,
can be omitted when they are not the subject of the sentence.
Ex: He is the doctor (who) I saw on TV
subject of the sentence
Ex: I talked to a man who survived the earthquake.
subject
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES.
preposition + relative: the relative is omitted, and the preposition comes
at the end of the sentence.
Ex: I saw the car crash everyone is talking about.
(Vi el accidente de tráfico del que habla todo el mundo)
Ex: Animal behaviour is a topic scientists are interested in.
( El comportamiento animal es un tema en el que se interesan los
científicos)
C.- TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES.
1.- NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES:
-Contain extra-information about people a things.
-who, which, whose, when, where, and the relative can´t be omitted.
-They go between commas.
uses
examples
THAT can not replace WHO
or WHICH
My brother, who lives in San Francisco, isn´t
afraid of earthquakes.
Elephants, which are very heavy, can live for
many years