FIVE

RELATIVE CLAUSES

Aim of this unit: to provide a classification of relative clauses, accompanied

by a characterization of the introductory elements for these clauses
Objectives: to provide students with useful information on relative clauses
that will help them correctly use relative clause introducers (e.g. whose, of
which, etc), subject relative clauses, etc.; the students will be able to identify
the type and function of a relative clause as part of a complex sentence.

Contents:
5.1. Relative Clauses and Other Kinds of Relatives
5.2. The Co-reference Condition
5.3. The Classification of Relative Clauses
5.6. Restrictions Imposed on the Relative Clause by the Determiner of the
Antecedent
5.7. Relative Clause Introducers
5.8. Pied Piping and Preposition Stranding
5.9. Key Concepts

1.1 Relative Clauses and Other Kinds of Relatives

By relative clauses we understand:

a) all the wh-complements mentioned in the previous section.
b) other kinds of relative clauses such as
 that relatives (those relative clauses introduced by THAT)
(1) This is a gift that you fully deserve.
(Acesta este un cadou pe care îl meriţi pe deplin.)
 participial relatives
(2) The fellow wearing those odd clothes is Jane’s husband.
(Bărbatul în haine ciudate este soţul lui Jane.)
 infinitival relatives
(3) I need some tools with which to fix the car.
(Am nevoie de unelte cu care să repar maşina.)

We will mainly focus on wh-complements leaving aside other kinds of relatives and cleft
sentences.

5.2. The Co-reference Condition - a discussion of attributive relatives

As we shall see, relative clauses can have more than one syntactical function. The best-
known function normally associated with relative clauses is that of modifier (or
attribute). This section deals with relative clauses functioning as attributes. We have
chosen to start this chapter with this particular topic because attributive relative clauses
are considered the most basic kind of relative clause. It is therefore by explaining the
mechanism that lies at their foundation that we will be able to extend our discussion
towards other type of relative clauses.

These relative clauses represent a type of subordination that is based on the fact that the
main clause and the subordinate clause share a nominal constituent. Consider the
following:

(4) I met a woman. John loves that woman.

By combining these two clauses, we obtain:

(5) I met a woman whom John loves.

(Am cunoscut o femeie pe care o iubeşte John.)
What has happened? The common element woman appears in the main clause only and is
resumed, reinforced by the relative pronoun introducing the second clause. We
presuppose that the phrase the woman in the second clause under (4) has been
transformed into a relative constituent (it has been relativized) and moved at the
beginning of the clause to link it to the previous one. The place where the phrase the
woman used to stand has remained empty, like a gap:

(6) I met a woman whom John loves _____.

Since the phrase a woman and the relative pronoun whom under (6) refer to the same
object, we can co-index them (that is we place the same index under each of them):

(7) I met a womani whomi John loves _____.

But how do we mark the fact that the verb loves used to have a direct object right after it
that has been moved up front?
We place the same index under the letter t (that stands for trace):

(8) I met a womani whomi John loves ti .

This way, we can clearly indicate that the co-reference condition that stipulated the
necessity of a shared nominal for the main clause and the relative attributive clause has
been observed.

The relative pronoun preserves its function of a direct object within the relative
subordinate. But there are other functions that the relative pronoun may fulfill. Let us
supply an example where the relative pronoun functions as a prepositional object:

(9) I met a woman. John offered flowers to that woman.

The common element woman is present, so the co-reference condition (that the two
clauses should have co-referring elements) is observed. The resulting structure can have
two forms:

(10) a. I met a womani whoi John had offered flowers to ti

b. I met a womani to whomi John had offered flowers ti

In point of terminology, we call the nominal that the relative clause refers to the
antecedent of the relative clause. The element that has been moved in front position and
transformed into a relative pronoun is called the relativized constituent.

The mechanism that allows for the appearance of relative attributive clauses is
movement: the movement of the relativized constituent in initial position, by leaving
behind a trace.

Is there a difference between (10a) and (10b)? Grammar books of usage show that the
example under (10b) is the more formal one, frequently used in written language,
whereas the first sentence is mainly used in dialogue, therefore in spoken English.

Activity 1: Combine the following sentences so as to get relative attributive clauses

(some of the sentences can be combined in two ways):
1.She came to London. I went to London, too. 2. John told his friend a story about the
king. The king was just passing by. 3. They met those students. None of the students
agreed with them. 4. I bought Jim a book. He liked that book. 5. I introduced him to Jim.
He told Jim everything about his plans. 6. Susan wants to meet Jane. She doesn’t know
anything about Jane. 7. I had a book. I lost the book’s cover. 8. This is my husband. I love
my husband very much. 9. The students like their teacher. Any of the students would
answer to questions. 10. The students like their teacher. All of them would answer their
teacher’s questions.
Activity 2: Write a sentence as similar as possible to the given one. Use the word in
capitals without changing it:
1. Whose is the car which is blocking the street? WHOM
2. This is the town in which Charles Dickens was buried. WHERE
3. It was silly of him to tell her the secret. WHICH
4. He’s the author who received the prize. WHO
5. These are people about whom we cannot tell much. WHO
6. That couple had their child abducted by terrorists. WHOSE
7. It was such a pity that you couldn’t join the party. WHICH
8. To whom are you writing this letter? WHO
9. This is the guy that they first met in Monte Carlo. WHOM
10. These are the tulips that were awarded the big prize. TO
11. A lot of tourists went on a trip to Delphi; most of them were from England. WHOM

5.3. The Classification of Relative Clauses

According to the criterion of form, relative clauses are divided into

1. dependent relative clauses (clauses that have an overt antecedent, i.e. whose main
clause contains a nominal that can be co-indexed with the introducing relative
pronoun)

(11) This is the mani whomi I love.

(Acesta este bărbatul pe care îl iubesc.)

Under (11) the relative subordinate finds its antecedent in the main clause: the phrase the
man.

2. independent relative clauses or Free Relative Clauses (those clauses which lack an
overt antecedent, that do not have an expressed antecedent in the main clause)
(12) Who breaks pays.
(Cine strică plateşte.)
(13) Whoever swims in sin shall swim sorrow.
(Cine păcătuieşte mult va suferi.)

Example (12) is an instance of a relative clause (introduced by a wh-element) whose

antecedent has been deleted, is no longer overtly expressed, unlike in the case of (14),
where we are looking at a more obsolete (i.e. far-fetched) form of the same sentence:

(14) Hei whoi breaks pays.

(Cel care strică plăteşte.)

So, in a manner of speaking, we can assume that Independent or Free Relative Clauses
must have originated from dependent ones; only their antecedent is no longer expressed,
it is covert. Unlike their sisters, these relatives cannot function as attributes, they
currently fulfill the function of subjects or objects, as follows:

 Subject Free Relative Clause

(15) Whoever touches pitch shall be defiled.
(Cine se atinge de smoală va fi întinat.)
 Direct Object
(16) I would like to know what you need.
(Aş dori să ştiu ce vrei.)
 Indirect Object (the only clauses that can have this function in fact)
(17) He gave whoever came to the door a winning smile.
(Oferea un zâmbet cuceritor oricui venea la uşa lui.)
 Prepositional Object
(18) You should vote for whichever candidate you think best.
(Trebuie să votezi cu candidatul pe care îl consideri cel mai potrivit.)
 Predicative
(19) This was what she intended.
 (Asta era ceea ce voise ea.)
 Adjunct
(20) Go wherever you want.
(Du-te unde pofteşti.)

The second criterion that further classifies relative clauses has to do with meaning and is
restricted to dependent relatives only. They can be thus divided into:
1. defining or restrictive relative clauses (those dependent relative clauses that identify
an antecedent; they offer crucial information about this antecedent, they define it).

(21) The man who came to woo me was a god.

(Cel care a venit să ma peţească era un zeu.)
(Only that particular man that was my suitor looked like a god)

2. non-defining or non-restrictive or appositive relative clauses (those dependent relative

clauses that do not offer crucial information about the antecedent. They only provide
supplementary information about it.)

(22) Mercury, who is the god of commerce, is my favourite god.

(Mercur, care este zeul negoţului, este zeul meu favorit.)
(Mercury, who incidentally is the god of commerce, is my favourite god)

The function of non-restrictive relative clauses is that of Appositive attributes. Their

meaning is also reinforced by orthography, and by the intonation the speaker uses in
uttering the whole sentence.

In conclusion, a diagram would sum up the types of relative clauses discussed:

 Restrictive/defining
The man who came to see me is a genius.
Non-restrictive/non-defining
Dependent
That man, who came to see me, is a genius.
Relative clauses

Independent I don’t know what you want.

(free) Whoever came to see me was a genius.

A good way of identifying restrictive relative clauses is to look at their syntactic function.
As we were saying, this type of relative clauses, i.e. restrictive relative clauses, can only
function as attributes (or modifiers).

Nota bene!
If it is a restrictive relative clause, then it is an attribute.

Activity 3: Identify the relative clauses stating their type in the sentences below:
1.This is the village where I spent my youth. 2. Did he mention the time when the plane
will take off? 3. Did they tell you the reason why they all left? 4. Shakespeare, who is a
genius, is a great playwright. 5. The advantage of the supermarket is that you can buy
what you want at a place where you can park your car. 6. On the day on which this
occurred I was away. 7. He cannot have been more than twenty when we first met. 8. I
have met him where I least expected. 9. She, on whom nobody could depend, was the one
we all welcomed and admired. 10. They are what their parents made them, however sad
this may be.
5.4 Restrictions Imposed On The Relative Clause by the Determiner of the
Antecedent

This section is dedicated to those relative clauses with a more special kind of antecedent.
We shall look at what happens for instance to the relative clause when its antecedent is a
proper noun, etc. Consider the following points of discussion:
1. When the antecedent has no determiner, it can only be followed by a non-defining
relative clause (an apposition):

(23)  Freddie Mercury, who died a few years ago, composed The Bohemian
Rhapsody.
(Freddie Mercury, care a murit acum câţiva ani, a compus The Bohemian
Rhapsody.)

When combined with a restrictive relative clause, the proper name is re-categorized into a
common name and receives its own determiner (the, a, etc.):

(24) The Freddie Mercury I knew was a rock-star.

(Freddie Mercury pe care-l cunoşteam eu era vedetă rock.)
(25) I know a Freddie Mercury who gives piano lessons.
(Cunosc un Freddie Mercury care dă lecţii de pian.)

2. First and second person pronouns do not normally take restrictive relative clauses.
They can be followed only by non-restrictive ones (appositions):

(26) I, who am your son, can see your shortcomings only too well.
(Eu, care-ţi sunt fiu, îţi văd prea bine defectele.)
(27) Anybody else would have done something except myself, who am not a woman,
but a peevish, ill-tempered, dried-up old maid.
(Oricine ar fi făcut ceva, numai eu nu, care nu sunt o femeie, ci o fată bătrînă
morocănoasă, iritabilă şi uscată.)
(28) They come to me, who neither work nor am anxious.
(Ei apeleaza la mine, care nici nu muncesc şi nici nu sunt îngrijorat.)

Third person pronouns however do accept restrictive relative clauses:

(29) He who laughs last laughs best (archaic).

(Cine râde la urmă râde mai bine.)

Activity 4: Translate the following, paying attention to the restriction imposed by

antecedent determiners on relative clauses:
1. Acesta nu este Bucureştiul pe care-l ştiu eu. 2. Dintre toate personajele prezente,
prinţul a ales-o pe Cenuşăreasa, care era cea mai frumoasă fată din sală. 3. Dintre toate
persoanele de faţă a trebuit să mă alegi pe mine să vorbesc, care nu ştiu să leg nici două
cuvinte. 4. Cine nu munceşte nu izbândeşte. 5. Voi care vă credeţi mari şi tari, poftiţi în
faţă. 6. Cu toţii doreau să-l audă pe acel Luciano Pavarotti care încântase mii de iubitori
de operă. 7. Mie, căreia nu-mi plăcea să las lucrurile neterminate, nu-mi convenea o astfel
de situaţie.

5.5 Relative Clause Introducers

Relative clause introducers are usually placed at the beginning of the relative clause. In
literary English they may sometimes be found later in the sentence:
 after a present participle
(30) … saying which he left the room
(… care lucruri fiind spuse, părăsi camera.)
 after an infinitive
(31) The African queen issued forth upon the Lake to gain which they had run such
dangers and undergone such toils.
(Regina africană se năpusti spre lac sa redobândească cele pentru care trecuseră
prin atâtea pericole şi avuseseră parte de atâta trudă.)
 As the object of a preposition and after than:
(32) He consulted his watch at 10-minute intervals, in spite of which the service
finished late.
(Se uita la ceas din zece în zece minute, şi cu toate acestea slujba s-a terminat
târziu.)
(33) He was a railway fanatic, than whom few more can be more crashing.
(Era un fanatic al mersului cu trenul, şi puţini oameni îl întreceau la asta.)
Sometimes the preposition can have partitive value:
(34) He was prone to an inevitable series of moods, each of which has evolved its own
system of harmony.
(Era înclinat spre stări schimbătoare, şi fiecare din aceste stări îşi dobândise propriul
sistem de armonie.)
(35) The compositions of Cardan, some of the last notes of whose harp he heard, were
now in his possession.
(Compoziţiile lui Cardan, ale căror ultime note de harpă le auzise, erau acum în
posesia lui.)

Aside from these marginal examples, relative clause introducers retain their clause initial
position. We shall briefly have a look at the most important ones.

5.5.1. Relative Pronouns

 Who [+human] with its case forms whom [+human] and whose [± human] :

(36) a. The woman who came to see my painting was the Queen itself.
(Femeia care a venit să îmi vadă tabloul era Regina însăşi.)
b. The woman to whom you showed the painting was the Queen.
(Femeia căreia i-ai arătat tabloul era Regina.)
c. The woman whose painting I sold was very young.
(Femeia al cărui tablou l-am vândut era foarte tânără.)
d. The painting whose buyer she was looked marvelous.
(Tabloul al cărui cumpărător era arăta minunat.)
Whose appears as the appropriate genitive form for both [+human] and [-human] objects,
as can be seen in (36d). The genitive form with which is still in use, too, but it is typical
of the formal, literary style:

(37) a. The book whose cover I lost was very expensive.

(Cartea a cărei copertă am pierdut-o era foarte scumpă.)
b. The book the cover of which I lost was very expensive.
(Cartea a cărei copertă am pierdut-o era foarte scumpă.)

(37b) is an example of relative clause introduced by a genitival pronoun where there is a

form of inversion imposed by the presence of the genitive form of which. There are
situations when inversion is not obligatory, but these ones are even more infrequent than
those illustrated under (37b):

(38) …as if she were being gradually cornered by a cruelty of which he was the almost
unconscious agent.
(Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man)
(… de parca era incet-incet incoltita de o cruzime al carei agent aproape
inconstient era el.)

 Which [-human]

(39) The story which he claimed to have told was too fantastic for my taste.
(Povestea pe care pretindea că a spus-o era prea fantastică pentru gustul meu.)

There are a few exceptions when which can acquire the feature [+human]:
 When which has a partitive value:

(40) Which of the two men is nicer?

(Care dintre ei este mai drăguţ?)
However in rhetorical question who is still preferred:

(41) Who of us will stain his hands with murder?

(Cine dintre noi îşi va mânji mâinile cu o crimă?)

 with archaic value:

(22) Our Father, which art in Heaven …

(Tatăl nostru carele eşti în ceruri…)

 When a personal denotation refers not to an individual, but to a type or a function:

(23) a. Shaw is commonly regarded more as a funny man than as the revolutionary
which at bottom he is.
(Shaw este în general privit mai degrabă ca un tip hazliu decât ca revoluţionarul
care este în esenţă.)
b. Freud is the analyst which we must enjoy.
(Freud este psihanalistul pe care trebuie să-l citim)
c. He is not the man which he used to be.
(Nu mai este omul care era odată.)

When its genitive form is used to give a very formal tone to the passage (but this is
very infrequent):

(24) Livia had just been delivered of twin boys, of which, by the way, Sejanus seems
to have been the father.
(Livia tocmai născuse doi baieţi gemeni, al căror tată se pare că era Sejanus.)

Both who and which are used for:

 collective nouns
(25) a. This was a tribe who moved from the Baltic Sea.
(Acesta era un trib care venise de la Marea Baltică.)
b. … Asiatic tribes and American tribes which resemble each other.
(… triburile asiatice şi amer-indiene care seamănă între ele.)

 states, animals, ships (that can be personified)

(26) a. … Italy, which entered the war in May 1915 …
(…Italia care a intrat în război în mai 1915…)
b. France, whom it concerned most closely, did however take certain precautions
(… Franţa, pe care o privea direct, şi-a luat totuşi nişte precauţii…)

 what – can normally introduce only free relative clauses:

(27) I didn’t know what they wanted.

(Nu ştiam ce vor.)

On the rare occasions when what functions as an introducer of restrictive relative clauses,
the use of this pronoun is:
a) archaic
(28) It is rich what gets the peaches,
It is poor what gets the punches.
(Cei bogaţi primesc onoruri, cei săraci se aleg cu ponoasele.)
b) dialectal
(29) a. …the bloke what signs our books …
(tipul ăla de ne semnează cărţile)
b. One can’t expect foreigners to ‘ave the same ideas what we ‘ave.
(one cannot expect foreigners to have the same ideas that we have)
(Nu poţi să te aştepţi ca străinii să aibă ce idei avem noi.)
5.5.2 Relative Adverbs: when, where, while, why, how, etc.
When they introduce restrictive relative clauses, their antecedents are nouns expressing
places, time, reason, etc. and can be replaced by prepositional phrases with adverbial
function:

(30) a. Poland is the place where Christine was born.

(Polonia este locul in care s-a nascut Christine.)
b. Poland is the place in which Christine was born.
(Polonia este locul in care s-a nascut Christine.)
(31) a. Ten o’clock is the time when they have lunch.
(Ora zece este momentul cind ei iau prinzul.)
b. Ten o’clock is the time at which they have lunch.
(Ora zece este momentul cind ei iau prinzul.)

When they introduce free relative clauses, no antecedents are required:

(32) a. He went where he had been before.

(S-a dus unde mai fusese.)
b.They left when they decided it was proper to.
(Au plecat cind s-a hotarat ca este potrivit.)

There are cases when these adverbs can appear in their older forms (in archaic passages):

(33) a. The place whither he goes is unknown.

(Locul catre care merge este necunoscut.)
b. They returned to the land whence they had come.
(S-au intors in tara din care venisera.)
c. A system where by a new discovery will arise.
(Un sistem prin care va aparea o noua descoperire)
d. A dark forrest wherein dangers lurk.
 (O padure intunecata in care ne pandesc primejdiile.)
e. This is the place wherefrom they came.
(Acesta este locul din care au venit.)

5.5.3. Relative THAT

Relative THAT normally appears as the introducer of restrictive relative clauses:

(34) This is the book that pleased her most.

(Aceasta este cartea care o încânta cel mai mult.)

It is invariable, never preceded by prepositions and requires an antecedent with the

exception of archaic idiomatic contents:

(54) Handsome is that handsome does.

(Only the person that behaves in a handsome way can be considered handsome).

Moreover, the relative introducer THAT – unlike its pair that introduces complement that-
clauses – can have almost any syntactic function within the relative clause:

Subject
(35) Did you see the letter [that came today?]
(Ai văzut scrisoarea care a sosit azi?)
Direct Object
(36) Did you get the books [that I sent you?]
(Ai primit cărţile pe care ţi le-am trimis?)
Prepositional Object
(37) That is the man [that I was talking about.]
(Acesta este cel despre care vorbeam.)
Predicative
(38) He is not the man [that he was.]
(Nu este omul care era odinioară.)
Adverbial
(39) Tuesday was the day [that he left.]
(Ziua în care a plecat a fost o marţi.)

When do we prefer to use THAT instead of WHICH/WHO?

 When the antecedent is a compound nominal that refers to a human and a thing:

(40) The children were the parcels that filled the car.
(Copiii erau pachetele ce umpleau maşina.)

 With a superlative antecedent

(41) She is the prettiest girl that I have ever seen.

(Este fata cea mai frumoasă pe care am văzut-o vreodată.)

 With an antecedent preceded by determiners such as: all, every, any, not any, much,
little:

(42) That ugly little house was all the home that I have ever had.
(Căsuţa aceea urâtă era singurul cămin pe care l-am avut vreodată.)

 When the rule of euphony must be observed

(63) a. Who that knew her would help loving her?

(Cine dintre cei care o cunoşteau se puteau împiedica să n-o iubească?)
b.* Who who knew her could help loving her?

5.5.4. Other relative introducers

There are of course other relative clauses introducers, but they are used very infrequently:
as, but
 in standard language

(64) a. Honest man as he was, it went against the grain with him to step into his shoes.
(Cinstit cum era, era contrar naturii sale să îl urmeze.)
b. I’ll get you such things as you may want.
(O sa îţi dau acele lucruri pe care le doreşti.)
c. This is the same one that/as you had before.
(Este la fel cu cel pe care l-ai avut.)

 in dialect

(65) a. Uncle George, him as was in China …

(Uncle George, who had been in China …)
(Unchiul George, ăl de fusese in China…)
b. There’s not many as’ll say that.
(There aren’t many who will say that)
(Nu-s mulţi să spuie asta…)

 archaic use

(66) a. There is no man but feels pity for starving children. (There isn’t a man who
doesn’t feel pity …)
(Nu e om care să nu simtă milă faţă de copiii care mor de foame)
b. There is no one of us but wishes to help you.
(Nu este nimeni dintre noi care să nu vrea sa te ajute.)
c. I never had a slice of bread
Particularly long and wide
But feel upon the sandy floor,
And always on the buttered side.
(Niciodată nu s-a întâmplat, când am avut o bucată de pâine măricică, să nu îmi
cadă pe podeaua murdară, şi întotdeauna pe partea unsă cu unt.)
Sometimes in colloquial or dialectal English, the relative clause introducer is omitted:

(67) a. It’s the dry weather does it.

(It’s the dry weather that is to blame.)
b. It was me made her think that was the best thing to do.
(It was me who made her think…)

This phenomenon is usually met with cleft relative clauses such as those under (67).

This remark brings us to another important question to ask: When can we delete relative
clause introducers? The answer to this question is rather straight: relative introducers can
be deleted whenever THAT can be used as an alternative to the respective relative
introducer. For instance in

(68) The man whom John met lives in Boston.

(Omul pe care l-a întâlnit John locuieşte în Boston)

The relative pronoun whom can indeed be replaced by that:

(69) The man that John met lives in Boston.

(Omul pe care l-a întâlnit John locuieşte în Boston)

This means that both whom and that can be deleted without the sentence losing its
grammaticality:

(70) The man John met lives in Boston.

(Omul pe care l-a întâlnit John locuieşte în Boston)

Note that deletion is impossible in

(71) The man whom John spoke to is an idiot.
(Cel cu care vorbeşte John este un idiot.)

since a replacement of the relative phrase with that cannot be performed in view of the
fact that the relative introducer that cannot preceded by preposition (see subsection
5.5.3):

(72) a. * The man to that John spoke is an idiot.

b.*The man John spoke to is an idiot.

When the preposition appears at the end of the clause, the replacement is allowed and
deletion is indeed an option:

(73) a. The man who John spoke to is a genius.

(Cel cu care vorbeşte John este un geniu.)
b. The man that John spoke to is a genius.
(Cel cu care vorbeşte John este un geniu.)
c. The man John spoke to is a genius.
(Cel cu care vorbeşte John este un geniu.)

Activity 5: Analyse the function of the relative clause and of the relative pronoun that
introduces it:
1. What I’m saying is, we all have to come to some terms. 2. This is where we talk
money. 3. What Inman remembered was this passage, which Monroe had repeated four
times at dramatic intervals throughout the sermon: “ That which shows God in me,
fortifies me. That which shows God out of me, makes me a wart and a wen.” 4. The
words of the hymn seemed to look with passionate yearning to a time when they would
be immersed in an ocean of love. 5. It was one job of his to think about why man was
born to die. 6. Where he was from, the word river meant rocks and moss and the sound of
white water moving fast under the spell of a great deal of collected gravity. 7. It seemed a
thing of such wonder to Ada, who had not witnessed many dawns. 8.When Ada remarked
that at least they could rest when winter came, Ruby said, Oh, when winter comes we’ll
mend the fence and piece quilts and fix what’s broke around here, which is a lot. 9. The
rudeness of eating, of living, that’s where Ruby seemed to aim Ada every day that first
month. 10. Ruby counted her first victory when Ada succeeded in churning cream to
butter. Her second victory was when she noted that Ada no longer always put a book in
her pocket when she went out to hoe the fields. 11. It was not until Ruby was nearly
grown that it occurred to her to wonder what kind of woman her mother had been to have
married such a man as Stobrod. 12. Whatever his fate was, he had left Ruby high and dry.
13. Ruby said she had learned what little she knew in the usual way. (…) Partly, though,
she claimed she had just puzzled out in her own mind how the world’s logic works.
(Charles Frazier – Cold Mountain)
Activity 6: Comment upon the grammaticality of the following:
a)The man who(m)/*which/that/ we saw was nice. b) The book *who(m)/which/that/
I read last night surprised me. c) The woman who/*whom/*which/that/ came to dinner
was very late. d) The book*whom/which/that/* deals with this problem is very good. e)
The man for whom/*who/*which/*that/* we are looking is not here. f) The man
who(m) I *which/that/ we are looking for is not here. g) The book for
*whom/which/*that/* we are looking is in my bag. h) The book *who(m)/which/that/
we are looking for is in my bag.

Activity 7: Read the following and notice the literary effect caused by the phenomenon of
recursiveness (repeated embeddings of sentences that become relative clauses) in the
passage; try to translate the Romanian text using the same technique.
This is the horse that kicked the policeman, that I saw trying to clear away the crowd that
had collected to watch the fight that the short man had started.
(Iris Murdoch, The Accidental Man)

“Guturaiul”. Cumnatul meu avea, pe linie paterna, un var primar, al carui unchi pe linie
materna avea un socru, al carui bunic pe linie paterna se-nsurase in a doua casatorie cu o
tanara bastinasa, al carei frate intalnise intr-una din calatoriile sale o fata de care se
indragostise si cu care a avut un fiu, care s-a casatorit cu o farmacista curajoasa, care nu
era altceva decat nepoata unui subofiter de marina din marina britanica si al carui tata
adoptiv avea o matusa care vorbea curgator spaniola si care era, poate, una din nepoatele
unui inginer, mort de tanar, nepot la randul lui al unui proprietar de vie din care se obtinea
un vin modest, dar care avea un var de-al doilea, vasnic, plutonier, al carui fiu se insurase
cu o tanara foarte frumoasa, divortata, al carei prim sot era fiul unui patriot sincer, care s-
a priceput sa-si creasca una din fete in dorinta de a face avere si care a reusit sa se marite
cu un vanator, care-l cunoscuse pe Rothschild si al carui frate, dupa ce-si schimbase de
mai multe ori meseria, s-a casatorit si a avut o fata, al carei strabunic, pirpiriu, purta niste
ochelari pe care-i primise de la un var.al lui, cumnatul unui portughez, fiu natural al unui
morar, nu prea sarac, al carui frate de lapte luase de nevasta pe fiica unui fost medic de
tara, el insusi frate de lapte cu fiul unui laptar, la randul lui fiul natural al unui alt medic
de tara, insurat de trei ori la rand, a carui a treia sotie … (Eugen Ionescu, Teatru)

5.6. Pied Piping and Preposition Stranding

If you go back to our discussion in 5.2, regarding the mechanism that licenses the
formation of relative clauses, you will remember that a relative clause such as that in
(74) She was the woman [who everybody listened to]
(Ea era cea care pe care o ascultau toţi.)

appeared as a result of movement:

(75) a. She was a woman. Everybody listened to that woman.

b. She was the womani whoi everybody listened to______ .
c. She was the womani whoi everybody listened to ti.

The phenomenon by means of which the relativized prepositional phrase is moved in

clause initial position but leaves its preposition behind is called preposition stranding: the
preposition has been stranded at the end of the sentence.
The opposite phenomenon, by means of which the whole phrase is moved up front
(preposition and all) bears the name of pied piping, where the wh-word is the pied piper
that drags after it another element:

(75) She was the woman i to whomi everybody listened.

By extension, another case of pied piping is offered by the movement of the genitival
phrase at the beginning of the relative clause:

(77)a. This is the book. I lost the cover of the book.

b. This is the booki whosei cover I lost ti.
(Aceasta este cartea a cărei copertă am pierdut-o.)

In this case the wh-word drags the constituent cover in clause initial position, acting
again as a genuine pied piper.

The difference between (76) and (77), apart from the distinct syntactical functions the
prepositional and the genitival phrase have, lies in the fact that in the case of (77) pied
piping is obligatory. We couldn’t say something like:

(78)* This is the book whose I lost cover.

Activity 8: Which of the following relative sentences can be reformulated by means of

preposition stranding?
1.The first question with which Ambrose had to deal was that of the statue of victory in
Rome. 2. The time at which he ate breakfast was inconvenient. 3. Thus they remained
utterly obsessed with themselves and each other, and some natural healing process of
which Dorina felt she ought to know. 4. In the interest of public decency, the
safeguarding of which was actually not his task, he requested that the public be excluded.
5. The problem of safe transportation, no easy answers to which could be offered, has
been troubling them forever. 6. She was the very woman about whom I knew absolutely
nothing. 7. This was the icepick with which one had seen her stab her husband to death.
8. She had fully realized how much her love for Austin cut her off from other people, as if
she were being gradually cornered by a relentlessness of which he was the almost
unconscious agent. 9. For the intense anxious sense of herself with which she was
suddenly invested she was quite untrained. 10. Irene, for whom he had sacrificed his
nights and days, he rarely saw now.

Activity 9: Identify the cases of Pied Piping in the following sentences:

1.His father’s friends, whose interest he most sincerely shared, were now all gone. 2. This
story, the unravelling of which had cost her many minutes of her life, was now complete.
3. She had lying in front of her a number of books and dictionaries most of which had
been shipped from remote countries. 4. The only relatives she would have liked to put up
with were her mother’s sisters. 5. His friends, no matter which, knew nothing of what he
had been subjected to.

5.7 Key Concepts

Relative Clauses can be dependent and in that case they need an antecedent in the main
clause, that is nominal phrase to which the relative clause introducer could send back.
The relative clause introducer is also called the relativized constituent and it co-refers
with the antecedent in the main clause.
Dependent relative clauses (so called because they are dependent on their antecedent) can
be further split into restrictive ones (that define and identify the antecedent) and non-
restrictive ones (that offer additional information about the antecedent and have an
appositive value). Both these types of relative clauses function as Attributes (appositive
or not, as the case is).
Independent relative clauses are also called Free Relative Clauses because their
antecedent is missing, has been deleted. They do not function as attributes, but as subjects
or objects (in fact fulfilling almost all syntactical functions, including that of Indirect
Object which only they can have).

The mechanism that lies at the basis of dependent (and independent) relative clauses is
movement, as can be seen in those particular sentences exhibiting preposition stranding
or pied piping.

Activity 10*: Translate the following making use of the knowledge acquired about
relative clauses:
1. De douazeci de ani, din săraca urbe provincială unde vegetau fără speranţă, capitala le
păruse un pisc inaccesibil, spre care aveau drept sa năzuiască numai cutezătorii cu
glezna tare şi plămânii largi.
2. Toate sfârşeau. Rămânea un vis urât şi lung de care şi amintirea va fugi mâine
cutremurată.
3. Căci pentru toţi patru copiii, cu toată deosebirea de vârstă şi fire, capitala era
necunoscutul miraculos (…) unde fiecare va afla tot ce-i pofteşte inima şi tot ce i-a
urzit, himeric, închipuirea.
4. Nelu, al treilea frate în ordinea cronologică, închipuia capitala ca un fabulos garaj de
unde nu lipseşte nici o marcă de automobil din cele mai rarisime şi ca o vastă arenă
sportivă, unde în fiecare zi se dezlanţuie competiţia între două echipe (…).
5. Pentru alţii, pentru dumneata bunăoară, precât am înţeles din cele ce-mi vorbeai
adineauri, sunt vrednic de invidiat.
6. A venit la mine să-mi ceară să-i numesc un ginere director. I-am numit ginerele cum a
vrut şi unde a vrut, de altfel un băiat bun! – şi nu ştia cum să-mi mulţumească.
7. Nu-i greu să-şi dea seama ct m-am scandalizat şi ce tămbălău am făcut când văzui
cum te-au lăsat toţi saă mucezeşti într-o asemenea puturoşenie de târg.
8. Vag îşi amintea că într-adevăr (…) fusese chemat să dezlege o întâmplare tulbure şi
că în spiritul său drept şi-a sacrificat prietenul pentru adevăr. Dar ce anume a fost şi
 cum s-a terminat povestea nu mai ştia şi nici n-ar fi crezut vreodată că există cineva
care să mai păstreze o atât de fidelă amintire. Fostul camarad îi apăru cu totul altfel de
cum îl socotise până acum.
9. Eşti proaspăt sosit aici, nu-ţi dai poate încă deplin seama de câte intrigi şi de câte
presiuni uzează politicianismul chiar în justiţie.
10. Dacă le convingea vreo însuşire cât de mică, speram că aveai să faci dumneata ceea
ce face un frate mai mare pentru unul mai mic. Îmi spuneam că nu se poate să nu
banuieşti în ce singurătate şi deznădejde se află un om tânăr într-un oraş unde totul îi
e duşmănos!
11. Tot ce-ai citit dumneata inca nu înseamnă nimic! Să-ţi mai adaog şi concluzia ultimă,
care nu figurează nici în dezbaterile procesului, nici în searbăda mea versiune, la care
văd că tot tragi mereu cu ochii. (…) Cât golim ceştile astea de cafea, ţi-o rezum la
câteva cuvinte.
12. Ceea ce n-a facut preşedintele de tribunal din Franţa, când îl invitase pe Henri
Rochefort să ia în primire un sector electoral şi să se aleagă deputat, cu surle şi cu
tobe, a făcut el.
(Cezar Petrescu – Calea Victoriei – slightly adapted)
13. – De altfel chiar şi idealuri de felul acesta mă străduiesc să nu-mi mai fac pentru că
am observat că mi se îndeplinesc şi nu pot alege acum care dintre ele merge în sensul
vieţii mele adevărate şi care nu, încă neştiind care este adevărata mea viaţă.
14. Voi încerca să-mi explic de ce la început mi s-a părut ca ai ochii verzi şi de ce astăzi,
până mai adineauri, ochii tăi au fost cenuşii.
15. Avea acum un fel de vertij, din care cauză pe Dora, deşi atât de aproape, o vedea ca
de la o mare distanţă.
16. În spatele lor, pe strada Icoanei, tramvaiul venea cu duduit de avalanşă şi bătăi de
clopote trase furios de dupa o perdea roşie şi galbenă, printre străzile şi casele din
urmă-le, dinspre Maria Rosetti, din direcţia căreia apoi, de unde venea şi Marta,
apărură, izvorânde mereu însă tare îndepărtate, cu sclipiri abia vizibile, roiuri de
fetiţe.
17. – E foarte frumos ce-mi spui, zise ea cu ochii mari, pierduţi într-o direcţie vagă.
18. Nici nu îndrăznesc să mă gândesc la bănuiala care mă încearcă. Dar nu vezi? Mai
întâi ideea că a rămas sărac, apoi că trebuie să lichideze tot şi să plece şi acum că e
bolnav când de fapt cu toţii ştim că este sănătos. Nu ţi se pare bizar la el care până
acum a fost un bărbat atât de energic, optimist şi cumpănit?
(Radu Petrescu – Matei Iliescu)
19. Dacă mă lovea, nu ştiu ce s-ar fi putut întâmpla.
20. Pe vremea când eram săraci nu ne vedeam aproape de loc cu această verişoară, care
era foarte “mondenă”, trăia larg de tot, căci avea casă mare în Bucureşti. Era una
dintre acele femei elegante, despre care, fie pe stradă, fie la teatru, toată lumea întreba
cine e.
21. Simţeam că nici nu era singura inferioritate pe care mi-o găsea. Pare-se că snobii, pe
care ea îi admira acum, aveau un stil al lor, pe care eu nu-l aveam, vedeam cum zi de
zi femeia mea se înstrăina, în preocuparile şi admiraţiile ei, de mine.
22. N-am putut să nu bag de seamă, de sus de unde eram, plăcerea cu care ea se lăsa
sprijinită toată de el, când au urcat râpa iar, până în şosea, după ce maşina a fost
reparată.
23. Pentru mine însă, care nu trăiesc decât o singură dată în desfăşurarea lumii, aceste
fapte au însemnat mai mult decât războaiele pentru cucerirea Chinei, decât şirurile de
dinastii egiptene, decât ciocnirile de aştri în necuprins.
24. Câtă vreme unii copaci sunt încă verzi, alţii au frunzele galbene ca nişte caise
străvezii. (Camil Petrescu – Ultima noapte de dragoste, întâia noapte de război)

KEY TO ACTIVITIES:

Activity 1
1.She came to London where I went too. 2. John told his friend a story about the king,
who was just passing by. 3. They met those students none of whom agreed with them. 4. I
bought Jim a book that he liked. 5. I introduced him to Jim to whom he told everything
about his plans. 6. Susan wants to meet Jane about whom she doesn’t know anything. 7. I
had a book whose cover I lost/ the cover of which I lost. 8. This is my husband whom I
love very much. 9. The students, any of whom would answer to questions, like their
teacher. 10. The students like their teacher, all of whom would answer to his questions.

Activity 2
1. To whom does the car blocking the street belong? 2. This is the town where Charles
Dickens was buried. 3. He told her the secret, which was silly of him. 4. He is the author
who they gave a prize to. 5. These are people who we cannot tell much about. 6. That is
the couple whose child was abducted by terrorists. 7. You couldn’t join the party, which
was a pity. 8. Who are you writing this letter to? 9. This is the guy whom they first met
in Monte Carlo. 10. These are the tulips to which they awarded the big prize. 11. A lot of
tourists went on a trip to Delphi, most of whom were from England.

Activity 3
1. where I spent my youth - restrictive 2. when the plane will take off - restrictive 3. why
they all left - restrictive 4. who is a genius – non-restrictive 5. what you want – free/
where you can park your car - restrictive 6. on which this occurred - restrictive 7. when
we first met - free 8. where I least expected - free 9. on whom nobody could depend –
non-restrictive/ we all welcomed and admired - restrictive 10. what their parents made
them, however sad - free

Activity 4
1. This isn’t the Bucharest I know. 2. Of all the persons there, the prince chose Cinderella,
who was the most beautiful girl in the hall. 3. Of all the persons there you had to choose
me, who cannot say a word. 4. He who doesn’t work will never succeed. 5. You, who
think so highly of yourselves, come up front. 6. All wanted to hear that Luciano Pavarotti
who had delighted thousands of opera lovers. 7. I, who didn’t like to leave things
unfinished, was very displeased with the situation.

Activity 5
1. What I’m saying – subject. What – direct object 2. where we talk money – predicative.
Where - adjunct 3. What Inman remembered – subject. What – direct object / which
Monroe had repeated four times at dramatic intervals throughout the sermon – attribute.
Which – direct object/ which shows God in me – attribute. Which – subject 4. when they
would be immersed in an ocean of love – attribute. When - adjunct 5. about why man
was born to die – prepositional object. Why - adjunct 6. Where he was from – adjunct,
where – predicative 7. who had not witnessed many dawns – appositive attribute. Who -
subject 8.When Ada remarked – adjunct, when – adjunct /when winter came – adjunct,
when – adjunct/ when winter comes – adjunct. When – adjunct/ what’s broke around here
– direct object. What – subject/ which is a lot – apposition, which - subject 9. where Ruby
seemed to aim Ada every day that first month – predicative. Where - adjunct 10. when
Ada succeeded in churning cream to butter – adjunct, when – adjunct/ when she noted –
predicative, when – adjunct/ when she went out to hoe the fields – adjunct, when - adjunct
11. what kind of woman her mother had been – prepositional object, what - attribute 12.
Whatever his fate was – adjunct, whatever – predicative 13. what little she knew – direct
object, what – attribute/ how the world’s logic works – direct object, how - adjunct

Activity 6
a)The man who(m)/*which/that/ we saw was nice. – which is ungrammatical due to
the [- human] property it has and which does not match the [+human] feature of the
antecedent b) The book *who(m)/which/that/ I read last night surprised me – who(m) is
ungrammatical due to the [+ human] feature this element has and which does not match
the [-human] feature of the antecedent c) The woman who/*whom/*which/that/ came
to dinner was very late – whom is ungrammatical due to the fact that it is an oblique case
form and the antecedent is a nominative form; which is ungrammatical due to the[-
human] feature this element has and which does not match the [+human] feature of the
antecedent d) The book *whom/which/that/* deals with this problem is very good -
whom is ungrammatical due to the [- human] feature of the antecedent which does not
match that of the pronoun; the zero article is ungrammatical due to the fact that that
cannot be deleted when it follows after a subject antecedent e) The man for
whom/*who/*which/*that/* we are looking is not here – who is ungrammatical due to
the presence of the preposition, which requires an accusative form; which is
ungrammatical because it is [-human] and it does not match the feature of the antecedent;
that is ungrammatical because it is invariable and cannot mark the accusative form
required by the preposition; the zero article is ungrammatical because the preposition
must select a noun phrase f) The man who(m) *which/that/ we are looking for is not
here – which is ungrammatical due to the [-human] feature which does not match the
feature of the antecedent g) The book for *whom/which/*that/* we are looking is in my
bag – whom is ungrammatical because it is [+ human]; that is ungrammatical because it
cannot be selected by a preposition, due to its invariable character; the zero article is
ungrammatical because the preposition must select a noun phrase h) The book
*who(m)/which/that/ we are looking for is in my bag – who(m) is ungrammatical
because it is [+human]

Activity 7
“The Flu”. My brother-in-law used to have a paternal first cousin, whose maternal uncle
used to have a father-in-law, whose paternal grandfather had got married for the second
time to a young native girl; whose brother had met a girl during his voyages, and they had
a son who got married to a brave chemist, who was none other but the niece of a British
navy officer and whose adoptive father used to have an aunt who spoke Spanish fluently
and who might have been one of the nieces of an engineer; who had died very young and
who was also the nephew of the owner of a vineyard that produced a mediocre wine, but
whose second cousin, a sergeant, had a son who had married this very beautiful young
lady, a divorcee whose first husband was the son of a true patriot; who had raised his
daughter with the desire of marrying into fortune and who finally managed to get married
to this hunter who had met Rothschild and whose brother, having changed quite a number
of jobs, got married and had a daughter; whose great-grandfather, a rather tiny looking
man, used to wear a pair of glasses which he had got from a cousin, the brother-in-law of
a Portuguese and natural son of a miller, who was quite well-off and whose foster brother
had married the daughter of a retired country physician, who was himself the foster
brother of a milkman, who, in his turn, was the son of another country physician who had
been married three times and whose third wife…
Activity 8
1.The first question with which Ambrose had to deal was that of the statue of victory in
Rome. – yes 2. The time at which he ate breakfast was inconvenient. - yes 3. Thus they
remained utterly obsessed with themselves and each other, and some natural healing
process of which Dorina felt she ought to know. – no 4. In the interest of public decency,
the safeguarding of which was actually not his task, he requested that the public be
excluded. - no 5. The problem of safe transportation, no easy answers to which could be
offered, has been troubling them forever. – yes 6. She was the very woman about whom I
knew absolutely nothing. - yes 7. This was the ice pick with which one had seen her stab
her husband to death. – yes, although the distance between preposition and relative
pronoun is a bit too long 8. She had fully realized how much her love for Austin cut her
off from other people, as if she were being gradually cornered by a relentlessness of
which he was the almost unconscious agent. – no 9. For the intense anxious sense of
herself with which she was suddenly invested she was quite untrained. - yes 10. Irene, for
whom he had sacrificed his nights and days, he rarely saw now. - yes

Activity 9
1.His father’s friends, whose interest he most sincerely shared, were now all gone. –
obligatory pied piping 2. This story, the unravelling of which had cost her many minutes
of her life, was now complete. - obligatory 3. She had lying in front of her a number of
books and dictionaries most of which had been shipped from remote countries. -
obligatory 4. The only relatives she would have liked to put up with were her mother’s
sisters. – no pied piping 5. His friends, no matter which – [pied piped phrase, with
deletion of the noun friends], knew nothing of what he had been subjected to. – no pied
piping

Activity 10
1. For twenty years, since they had been leading a rather dull hopeless life in their small
provincial town, the capital had been an unattainable peak where only the bold
possessors of sturdy ankles and strong lungs could hope to arrive.
2. Everything was ending. Only an ugly endless dream remained, which even one’s
imagination would strive to evade the next day.
3. For all the four children, irrespective of age and nature, felt that the capital was the
great unknown… where they will all grasp what they wished for and what their
imagination had forged as a dream.
4. Nelu, the third born son, thought of the capital as of a fantastic garage which was
endowed with the rarest sort of cars, or as of a vast arena, where two teams battled
every day…
5. In other people’s opinion, yours, for instance, I am to be envied, or so I gathered from
what you were telling me a moment ago.
6. He came to me to ask me to appoint one of his sons-in-law as a manager. I did so, I
even let him choose the place he wanted to manage – for he was a sound fellow - and
he couldn’t thank me enough.
7. It is not difficult for him to realize how mad I got and how much I protested when I
saw how they all left you to rot in this god-forsaken town.
8. He vaguely remembered that he had indeed been called to get to the bottom of this
rather murky incident and that his honest spirit had forced him to sacrifice his friend
in the name of truth. But what really happened and how the story ended he couldn’t
tell and anyway, he would have never believed that there might still be someone who
remembered all that so clearly. The image of his old mate was now completely
different from what he had remembered him to be.
9. You are newly arrived here, and you might not really understand how much plotting
and pressure can be applied by politicians even in a court of law.
10. If any of your qualities were to persuade them, I hoped that you would perform the
duty of an elder brother for a younger one. I told myself you had to have a notion of
the loneliness and despair a young man might feel in a city where everything
appeared hostile to him.
11. All that you have read is rubbish. Let me tell you my last conclusion, which is not to
be found in the minutes of the trial or in my rather insipid version, that you keep
peeping at… I’ll sum it up for you while we empty these cups of coffee.
12. He managed to do what the Chair of the High Court from France had not been able to
do when he had invited H.R. to take over a whole elective section and get elected
with quite a lot of publicity.
13. Actually I am trying not to cherish this kind of high hopes for I have noticed that they
come true and then I cannot decide which of them follows the course of my real life
and which doesn’t, since I don’t really know which my true life is.
14. I will try to explain to myself why at the beginning I thought that you had green eyes
and why not two minutes ago your eyes looked gray to me.
15. He was suffering from dizziness, which was why he saw Dora very far away,
although she was standing quite close to him.
16. Behind them, on Icoanei street, the tram was rattling along, amidst much rumbling
and tolling of bells, furiously pulled from behind a red and yellow curtain, leaving
streets and houses behind, from MR street, where from Marta was coming too, and
wherefrom a swarm of little girls appeared far away, barely glittering in the distance.
17. What you’re saying sounds very nice, she said, staring aimlessly.
18. I don’t even dare to think of the suspicion that is assailing me. But, can’t you see?
First the idea that he was broke, then that he had to sell out and leave and that he is so
sick while we all know that he is not. Doesn’t this kind of behaviour seem strange in a
person that used to be so energetic, so optimistic and composed?
19. If he had hit me, I don’t know what might have happened.
20. While we were poor, we didn’t use to visit this cousin who was quite the socialite.
She was a woman of means, had a huge house in Bucharest. She was one of those
impeccably dressed women, who prompted everyone on the street, or in the theatre
hall to ask who she was.
21. I felt this was not the only inferior trait she found in me. Those snobs whose ardent
admirer she was now, had a personal style in clothes, which I did not posses. So, day
by day, I could see my woman falling away from me, in her pursuits, likes and
dislikes.
22. From the vantage point I was in, I couldn’t help noticing the pleasure with which she
heavily leant on him while they climbed from the ravine back to the highway, after
the car was fixed.
23. But for me, who only lived once in this world, these facts meant more than the wars
for the conquest of China, or the many Egyptian dynasties, or the clash of stars above.
24. While some trees are still green, others’ leaves are as yellow as some transparent
apricots.