Relative clauses

A relative clause is one that’s connected to the main clause of the sentence by a word
such as who, whom, which, that, or whose. For example:
It reminded him of the house that he used to live in.
The items, which are believed to be family heirlooms, included a grandfather clock worth
around £3,000.
There are two types of relative clause: restrictive (or defining) relative clauses and non-
restrictive (or non-defining) relative clauses. The difference between them is as follows:
 A restrictive relative clause provides essential information about the noun to which it
refers. It cannot be left out of the sentence without affecting the meaning. The
highlighted section of the first sentence above is a restrictive relative clause. If it was left
out, the sentence would not make sense:

It reminded him of the house. [which house?]

 A non-restrictive relative clause provides information that can be left out without
affecting the meaning or structure of the sentence. The highlighted section of the second
sentence above is a non-restrictive relative clause. If it was left out, the sentence would
still make perfect sense:

The items included a grandfather clock worth around £3,000.

You do not need to put a comma before restrictive relative clauses. On the other hand,
non-restrictive relative clauses should be separated from the rest of the sentence by a
comma or commas. For example:

A list of contents would have made it easier to steer through the book, which also lacks a
map.
Bill, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, suddenly roused himself.
In British English, restrictive relative clauses can be introduced by that or which when
they are referring to things rather than people:
The coat that/which Dan had on yesterday was new.
In this sentence, the writer is identifying the coat by saying it’s the one Dan was wearing
yesterday, as opposed to any other coats he might own.

Non-restrictive relative clauses must always be introduced by which and never by that:
The coat, which Dan had on yesterday, was made of pure alpaca and cost a bomb.
In this sentence, there’s no need to identify the coat – it’s already been mentioned. But
the writer is providing a bit of background context by telling us that Dan was wearing it
yesterday.

You can read more about when to use what, who, or which on the Oxford Dictionaries
blog.

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are clauses starting with the relative pronouns who*,
that, which, whose, where, when. They are most often used to define or
identify the noun that precedes them. Here are some examples:

 Do you know the girl who started in grade 7 last week?

 Can I have the pencil that I gave you this morning?
 A notebook is a computer which can be carried around.
 I won't eat in a restaurant whose cooks smoke.
 I want to live in a place where there is lots to do.
 Yesterday was a day when everything went wrong!

* There is a relative pronoun whom, which can be used as the object of the
relative clause. For example: My science teacher is a person whom I like
very much. To many people the word whom now sounds old-fashioned, and
it is rarely used in spoken English.

Relative pronouns are associated as follows with their preceding noun:

Preceding noun Relative pronoun Examples

a person who(m)/that, whose - Do you know the girl who ..
- He was a man that ..
- An orphan is a child whose parents
..
a thing which†/that, whose - Do you have a computer which ..
- The oak a tree that ..
- This is a book whose author ..

Note 1: The relative pronoun whose is used in place of the possessive

pronoun. It must be followed by a noun. Example: There's a boy in grade 8
whose father is a professional tennis player. (There's a boy in grade 8. His
father is a professional tennis player.)

Note 2: The relative pronouns where and when are used with place and
time nouns. Examples: FIS is a school where children from more than 50
countries are educated. 2001 was the year when terrorists attacked the
Twin Towers in New York.

Some relative clauses are not used to define or identify the preceding noun
but to give extra information about it. Here are some examples:

 My ESL teacher, who came to Germany in 1986, likes to ride his

mountain bike.
 The heavy rain, which was unusual for the time of year, destroyed
most of the plants in my garden.
 Einstein, who was born in Germany, is famous for his theory of
relativity.
 The boy, whose parents both work as teachers at the school, started
a fire in the classroom.
 My mother's company, which makes mobile phones, is moving soon
from Frankfurt to London.
 In the summer I'm going to visit Italy, where my brother lives.

Note 1: Relative clauses which give extra information, as in the example

sentences above, must be separated off by commas.

Note 2: The relative pronoun that cannot be used to introduce an extra-

information (non-defining) clause about a person. Wrong: Neil
Armstrong, that was born in 1930, was the first man to stand on the moon.
Correct: Neil Armstrong, who was born in 1930, was the first man to stand
on the moon.

There are two common occasions, particularly in spoken English, when the
relative pronoun is omitted:

1. When the pronoun is the object of the relative clause. In the following
sentences the pronoun that can be left out is enclosed in (brackets):

 Do you know the girl (who/m) he's talking to?

 Where's the pencil (which) I gave you yesterday?
 I haven't read any of the books (that) I got for Christmas.
 I didn't like that girl (that) you brought to the party.
 Did you find the money (which) you lost?

Note: You cannot omit the relative pronoun a.) if it starts a non-defining
relative clause, or, b.) if it is the subject of a defining relative clause. For
example, who is necessary in the following sentence: What's the name of
the girl who won the tennis tournament?
2. When the relative clause contains a present or past participle and the
auxiliary verb to be. In such cases both relative pronoun and auxiliary can
be left out:

 Who's that man (who is) standing by the gate?

 The family (that is) living in the next house comes from Slovenia.
 She was wearing a dress (which was) covered in blue flowers.
 Most of the parents (who were) invited to the conference did not
come.
 Anyone (that is) caught writing on the walls will be expelled from
school.

Circumlocution
I. What is Circumlocution?

Circumlocution (sir-kum-low-KEW-shun) means “talking around” or “talking in circles.” It’s

when you want to discuss something, but don’t want to make any direct reference to it, so you
create a way to get around the subject.

The key to circumlocution is that the statement has to be unnecessarily long and complicated. So
“the vehicle that I use to drive to work in the mornings” is a circumlocution for “my car.”

Most of the time, circumlocution is just an error — it’s what happens when the author can’t come
up with the best, most concise expression. But sometimes, as we’ll see, there is a purpose behind the
circumlocution.

Circumlocution might have a negative connotation, but its precise definition is somewhat
subjective. To one person, a long and flowery passage might seem like a circumlocution. But to
others, the same passage might seem compelling and imaginative. It depends on one’s tastes and
how much one prefers directness over flourishes.
Another word for “circumlocution” is “periphrasis.”

II. Examples of Circumlocution

Example 1
In many religious traditions, practitioners use other names to refer to God. So they come up with
circumlocutions such as “Our Father who art in Heaven.”

Example 2
In the Harry Potter series, the dark lord Voldemort is frequently referred to as:
 You-know-who
 He-who-must-not-be-named
These circumlocutions are designed to avoid bringing down Voldemort’s curse, which can be
caused by speaking his name. This euphemistic practice is similar to many religious prohibitions
around the world against speaking the names of divine or demonic figures.

III. The Problem with Circumlocution

Circumlocution is nearly always a bad thing – clarity and directness are generally features of good
writing, so their opposite (circumlocution) is bad writing almost by definition.

The value of concise writing comes from the unwritten contract between readers and writers. When
you pick up a book or article, you expect the author to give you a good story or a persuasive or
informative argument in the most efficient manner possible. You give the writer your attention, and
in return the author promises not to waste it. Circumlocutions, talking around the subject rather
than confronting it directly, are generally a violation of that contract.
However, there are a few cases where a writer will deliberately resort to circumlocution (we’ll see
some examples in section 6). Although the circumlocution has a purpose in these cases, it’s still
basically a failing – the best authors can usually accomplish these goals without resorting to
circumlocutions.

IV. Examples of Circumlocution in Literature

Example 1
Euphemisms are a common form of circumlocution. Euphemism is when someone wants to use a
“nicer” term for something rude or taboo. And when that euphemism is also a long, roundabout
explanation, it’s also For example, “passed on from this earth” is a euphemism and a
circumlocution for “died.”
Example 2
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs who control the farm decide to take more of the food for
themselves and leave less for the other animals. In a classic example of political circumlocution, the
pigs explain that:
For the time being it has been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations.
In addition to talking around what essentially amounts to theft, the speaker is also using the passive
voice to mask who is behind this action – even if the theft were acknowledged, it would be in the
form of “food was stolen,” not “we stole food.”

V. Examples in Popular Culture

Example 1
In one episode of Firefly, Captain Reynolds tells an enemy that he was “not burdened with an
overabundance of schooling,” which is a circumlocution for “stupid” or at least “uneducated.” In
this case, Captain Reynolds’s circumlocution is designed to go over the enemy’s head, thus
displaying his stupidity in practice as well as describing it in words.
Example 2
In his testimony before Congress, baseball legend Mark McGwire was repeatedly asked whether he
used performance-enhancing drugs (i.e. steroids) during his career as a slugger. Instead of
answering the questions, McGwire explained that “I’m not here to talk about the past.” This
efficient circumlocution allowed him to avoid answering the question one way or another.

VI. Related Terms

Verbosity

Verbosity is circumlocution without purpose. It’s usually a quality of a person — one who just goes
on and on, using far too many words for their intended purpose without adding much meaning, and
often including redundant phrases that say the same thing twice, that is more than once,
unnecessarily and without need.

For example, the phrase “at this point in time” is a circumlocution for “now,” and is often used by
verbose speakers.

Verbose characters might include professors, lawyers, politicians, and businessmen.

Innuendo

Innuendo is an act of sly or suggestive speech, usually designed to mask a person’s true intentions.
The most common form of innuendo is sexual or romantic innuendo, when someone will
suggestively hint at the fact that they are interested in the other person, without saying so directly.
Well-written characters frequently use innuendo to suggest their sexual and romantic desires, but
they may also use this technique to throw oblique insults without coming right out and making any
explicitly negative comments.

Equivocation
Equivocation is a favorite technique of disingenuous politicians and public figures. It’s a
deliberately ambiguous use of language that allows everyone to think that the speaker agrees with
them. A successful equivocation will leave so much room for interpretation that the speaker can
walk away without having committed to any particular position.
For example, if a school board president was asked why she decided to ban a particular book from
the curriculum, she might respond, “I think it’s important to choose the best possible books for our
children’s classrooms.” The statement is obviously true, but only sounds like it answers the question
– really it’s just a dodge that addresses none of the substantive issues the questioner was worried
about.
Equivocation is often referred to as “doublespeak.”

Clichés
What this handout is about

This handout discusses clichés and why you should generally avoid them in order to achieve
specificity in both your academic writing and your application essays.

Introduction: What’s so bad about clichés?

Let’s say you are on a study abroad applications review committee. You are responsible for making
sure a limited amount of money goes to the most qualified applicants…and you have to read
through hundreds of application essays! Here are two personal statements:

I’m a people person, so I am certain to get along well with new people in a strange country. I know
how to adapt, because I’m a jack-of-all-trades. I am also prepared to deal with adversity and learn
from challenges because I know that every cloud has a silver lining.

I will be able to immerse myself in another country because I have experience as an ESL tutor
interacting with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Growing up in a military family taught
me how to quickly adapt to new people and environments. I won’t let the inevitable challenges of
living abroad deter me from my educational goals. As my numerous failed experiments for my
chemistry senior project show, challenges are profitable in the long-run. I finally made a
contribution to my field after 200 experiments!

Who gets the money? Both applicants made the same basic argument about themselves. But the
second did it with more specificity—in other words, by using detailed evidence to reinforce her
more general claims about herself. The first applicant relied on clichés—“I’m a people person,”
“jack-of-all-trades,” “every cloud as a silver lining”—that anybody could have used. We didn’t
learn anything specific about this person. The second applicant gets the money.

This example shows the problem with clichés—they are general statements that do not add any
detailed evidence or unique support to a piece of writing, whether that writing is a personal
statement or an academic essay.

What is a cliché?

Clichés are expressions that either have a general meaning or have “lost their meaning” over time.
These overused phrases do not provide a specific meaning or image. You are probably familiar
with many of them, although you might find it difficult to pinpoint their exact definition. Some are
idioms, where the figurative meaning of a group of words is different from the literal definition. For
example, “The devil is in the details” should hopefully not be taken literally! Other clichés may
once have possessed a precise meaning that made them creative metaphors, but they have now lost
their edge because that specific definition has been forgotten or dulled through overuse. “Survival
of the fittest” once evoked Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection. Because
readers have largely lost this unique context, the phrase has also lost the specificity which may have
once made it a potent metaphor. Clichés can also obscure fully-developed ideas by serving as
placeholders for a more sophisticated discussion. Clichés lack specificity and complexity; therefore,
they do not make distinctive or memorable contributions to your writing.

What are some examples of clichés?

We’ve divided some common clichés into categories based on the genre in which you might
encounter them. Follow the links at the end of this handout for much more comprehensive lists of
clichés.

Academic Writing – especially in formulaic introductions or conclusions (see our handouts

on introductions and conclusions to make sure that you don’t start or end your papers with
clichés):

 In modern society
 Throughout history (Be warned: History TAs hate this one!)
 In this day and age
 In the current climate
 From the dawn of man (Historians are also not fond of this one!)

Application Essays – where talking about yourself can lead to getting mushy and using clichés
(check out our handout on application essays to make your personal statements specific and
effective):

 Good things come to those who wait

 Every cloud has a silver lining
 Little did I know
 I learned more from them than they did from me
 Every rose has its thorn
 The time of my life

Any type of writing:

 In the nick of time

 Opposites attract
 You win some, you lose some
 Easy come, easy go
Why shouldn’t you use clichés?

Clichés are usually not acceptable in academic writing, although some may be effective in daily
conversation and less formal writing. Evaluate the context of your writing and be aware that you’re
making a choice when you use them.

 Clichés make you seem boring. By using a cliché, you’re telling your reader that you lack
originality, making them want to yawn and stop reading your paper.
 Clichés make your writing and argument interchangeable with anybody else’s. Make sure
that your argument and writing are specific to you and your writing task.
 Clichés are vague. It is best to use the most precise wording in order to present evidence
and support your arguments as clearly as possible. Specific details and explanations make
better evidence than generalizations and trite phrases.
 Clichés make you seem lazy. They are a hedge when you don’t want to do creative work.
 Clichés make you lose credibility. Your reader will not trust you as an authoritative source
if you can’t come up with a better description than a cliché.
 Clichés are poor substitutes for actual evidence. Because clichés are not specific, they do not
offer strong enough commentary to prove your point. Make sure that every sentence of
your paper is working toward a goal by eliminating meaningless phrases.

How to tell when you’re using a cliché

 If instructors provide feedback such as “too general,” “vague,” or “be more specific,” what
they might really mean is that your writing relies on clichés.
 Ask a friend to listen as you read your writing out loud. If he or she can finish any sentence
before you read the whole thing, you have probably employed a cliché.
 Read through your writing alone. Read it slowly and out loud, stopping often to develop
mental pictures that reflect what you have written. If you’re writing a paper that needs to
be descriptive, do all of your sentences evoke strong images? If you’re writing about
something theoretical or persuasive, are all of your points specific and clear? If something
is easy to skip over or you can’t assign a direct meaning to it, go back! You may have a
cliché.
 Ask yourself if what you’ve written is a product of your research, an original argument, or
a portrayal of your personal experiences. Could what you wrote appear in anyone else’s
essay? If so, you may be relying on clichés. No other writer has had exactly the same
personal experiences as you, conducted the same research, or formulated the same
arguments.
 Look through your introduction and your conclusion. Often writers rely on clichés to power
through what many consider to be the most difficult sections of a paper. If you’re using
phrases that sound like they could belong in any generic paper, chances are they’re not
serving you well. Of course, you may reuse certain transition words or forms of argument
 in multiple papers, but try to avoid hackneyed phrases like “Throughout history…” or
“In conclusion…”

How to get rid of clichés

 Research or brainstorm some more. If you are relying on clichés, you might not have
prepared enough for your writing assignment. Check out our brainstorming handout. If
you think you may be relying on clichés instead of actual evidence, consult our handout on
evidence for clarification.
 Stop and think about what you’re trying to say. What do you really mean? Say your answer
out loud and then write it down. List the main ideas that you want to convey in each
sentence, and then list synonyms of each idea underneath. Pull out a thesaurus if
necessary. This method leaves you with a list of many words, and you can pick the most
fitting combination.
 Try to pinpoint exactly what you want to say, and write it! Often, keeping it simple is a good
idea.
 Ask yourself questions as you write. Use “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and
“how” questions to spur your thinking. Rather than writing “throughout history” as your
introductory line, stop and ask yourself, “When? In what era? Where? Who was in power
during the specific historical context I am addressing?” The answers to these questions
will give you a more focused opening line. For example, imagine you’re writing a paper
about papal history. Rather than saying something generic such as, “Throughout history,
only two popes have resigned,” you can write something better with the help of a little
research. You could end up with the more precise: “In what represented a nearly
unprecedented departure from papal tradition, Pope Benedict XVI became the second
pope to resign in 2013.”