RELATIVE CLAUSES

RELATIVE CLAUSES

1. We can use relative clauses to join two English sentences, or to give more information about something.

   • I bought a new car. It is very fast. → I bought a new car that is very fast.
   • She lives in New York. She likes living in New York. → She lives in New York, which she likes.

2. Defining and Non-defining

   • A defining relative clause tells which noun we are talking about
     • We can use 'who', 'which' or 'that'. We use 'who' for people and 'which' for things. We can use 'that' for people or things. ( The relative pronoun is the subject)
       • I like the woman who lives next door. (If I don't say 'who lives next door', then we don't know which woman I mean).
     • when the relative pronoun is the object of the clause. In this case we can drop the relative pronoun if we want to. Again, the clause can come after the subject or the object of the sentence.
       • She loves the chocolate (which / that) I bought.
       • John met a woman (who / that) I had been to school with.
   • A non-defining relative clause gives us extra information about something. We don't need this information to understand the sentence.
     • We don't use 'that' in non-defining relative clauses, so we need to use 'which' if the pronoun refers to a thing, and 'who' if it refers to a person. We can't drop the relative pronoun in this kind of clause, even if the relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
       • I live in London, which has some fantastic parks. (Everybody knows where London is, so 'which has some fantastic parks' is extra information).

3. Prepositions and relative clauses

   • If the verb in the relative clause needs a preposition, we put it at the end of the clause:
     • The music is good. Julie listens to the music. → The music (which / that) Julie listens to is good.
     • My brother met a woman. I used to work with the woman. → My brother met a woman (who / that) I used to work with.
     • I visited the city. John comes from the city. → I visited the city (that / which) John comes from.
     • The job is well paid. She applied for the job. → The job (which / that) she applied for is well paid.
   • Whose
     • The little girl is sad. The little girl's / her doll was lost. → The little girl whose doll was lost is sad.
   • Where / when
     • I live in the city where I study.
     • The summer when I graduated from university was long and hot.

Imagens e arquivos do mapa