[CAE - RELATIVE CLAUSES] 3 de junio de 2013

RELATIVE CLAUSES
Sentence patterns: Relative clauses
A relative clause is a subordinate clause that begins with a question word (e.g. who, which, where) or the word that. You can use it to modify a noun or pronoun (i.e. to identify or give more information about it). Examples: Students who can develop independent learning skills often achieve good academic results. There is a new book that investigates the controversy over political reforms in Hong Kong. A university is a place where people pursue advanced knowledge in specific academic disciplines. The lecture theatre in which the inauguration ceremony will be held is now being cleaned.

1. Relative pronouns ords li!e who" that, which, where, whose and when are often referred to as relative pronouns when they are used to introduce relative clauses. e use: who for people" which for things" and that for both people and things. where for places when they are the sub#ect of the clause. whom as the ob#ect of a relative clause (in more formal English)" specially when preceded by a preposition. whose to indicate possession" as a determiner before nouns. when to indicate the specific time" for example" the a! when"on which $ was born" the !ear when%in which they met&

'or example: Whats the name of the person who/that first landed on the moon? This is Dr. erkins! whom we met at a conference in "anada last year. The novelist for whom we prepared the celebration has #ust been awarded the $Writer of the %ear& pri'e. () *The novelist we prepared the celebration for has #ust been+,

All students whose registration numbers begin with -. should immediately go to the library for a tour.

#. T!pes o$ relative clause (here are two types of relative clause: defining and non)defining. You use a e$inin% (or restrictive) relative clause to *identify+ or *restrict the reference of+ a noun. You do not separate it from the rest of the sentence by commas (in text) or pauses (in speech). Prof. Mara Es e!a Medina Uni"ersidad #a$iona! de C%rdo&a

[CAE - RELATIVE CLAUSES] 3 de junio de 2013

The student who achieves the highest score in this department will be awarded a pri'e of /01!111. "omputer games that involve fighting and shooting apparently have a negative effect on young people.

You use a non& e$inin% (or non)restrictive) relative clause to supply additional information about the noun" whose identity or reference is already established. You can also use it to comment on the whole situation described in a main clause. Albert 2instein! who put forward the theory of relativity! is considered by many as the most intelligent person in human history. The 23"! which provides language support to PolyU students! is located in the east wing.

You can+t use the relative pronoun that in non)defining relative clauses.

'. Re uction o$ relative clauses You can sometimes reduce a defining relative clause to create a more concise style. You cannot reduce a non)defining clause. 4alf of the training sessions *that are, arranged for the athletes have been cancelled due to bad weather. * A)T5"5 32,

All the people *who were, meeting outside the hall had been invited beforehand.

The foreigner *who6whom, you saw at the party last night is 7iorgio Armani8 *When the relative pronoun is the (9:2"T of the verb! it can be omitted,.

Prof. Mara Es e!a Medina Uni"ersidad #a$iona! de C%rdo&a