1. defining vs. nonnon-defining relative clauses
defining relative clauses: provide information that is crucial to understanding the meaning of the
sentence
The boy who stole her heart is an alien creature disguised as a human.
Andrew stopped the police car that was driving past.
>> not marked off by commas or pauses in speaking
non-defining relative clauses: provide additional information that is not essential to understanding
the sentence
Jenny’s boyfriend, who is rather dull, is handsome and has very rich parents.
We received an offer of $ 1M for the house, which we accepted.
>> marked off by commas and pauses in speaking
2.
Criteria for choosing the correct relative
pronoun (depends on defining/non-defining,
subject/object, person/thing, formal/informal)
Defining Relative Clauses
Subject
who/that
Person
The girl who/that dances a lot...
Thing
that/which
The fog that/which rose during our
boat trip...
Non-defining Relative Clauses
For persons:
For things:
as subject: who
as object: whom
subject or object: which
Object
that (stylistically neutral)
who (colloquial)
whom (formal)
The tourists that/who/whom the resort attracts
every year...
that/which
can also be dropped (cf. contact clause)
He showed me the rocks that/which/zero he had
brought from Chile.
3. Omission of relative pronouns: contact clauses
>> only possible in defining relative clauses
a) if the relative pronoun is the object of the clause
The concerts (that/which) I visited were all great.
b) if the relative pronoun is a complement of a preposition
The person he was waiting for had an accident.
4. Prepositions in relative clauses
Defining:
preposition mostly after verb:
The project which he worked on for so long was a success.
in formal style: before the relative pronoun
The figures on which the report is based are wrong.
Non-defining:
as non-def. rel. cl. are mainly used in formal English, the preposition
normally comes before the relative pronoun
The Mediterranean region, in which much of our civilization developed, is
relatively impoverished today.
Note: some prepositions can only come before the rel. pronoun, e.g. during, due to, because of
>> where/when (relative adverbs) can replace the relative pronoun if the antecedent refers to
place or time:
The area where our house used to be....
Nobody knew the day when/on which he would arrive.
5. whose, of whom, of which
a) to express genitive relationships
I’d like to thank all those whose generosity has helped us preserve this historic building.
The castle, whose massive walls...
b) to express a partitive relationship (to indicate that you are talking about all of those
mentioned or only a portion of them)
The gold medalists, most/all of whom came from China, were greeted with cheers.
The first Earl of Sussex had three sons, the youngest of whom eventually inherited the title.
Tiverton House, part of which is now open to the public, has been reconstructed.
Possible with: both, some, all, several, superlative form + of + whom/which