UNIT 10A
1. GRAMMAR
defining relative clauses
who/that Mary is the person who / that won the prize. (*)which/that
where This is the hospital where I was born.whose
(who/that) She is the woman (who / that) I met on the plane.
(which/that) This is the book (which / that) I bought for him./ It is a book which / that helps you with your English. (*)
whose This is the person whose wife was my English teacher.
· to give important information about a person, place or thing
(relative pronoun + subject + verb).
· who for people, which for things, where for places.
Whose means of who / of which.
· you can use that instead of who or which.
· you can omit who / which / that when the verbs in the
main clause and the relative clause have a different subject.
non-defining
relative
clauses
,who... ,/.
,which... ,/.
,where... ,/.
,whose... ,/.
I saw Mary last month, who is Tom's cousin.
This book, which was written by Shakespeary, is my favourite.
Ceuta, where I live, is an interesting city.
I saw Mary last month, whose birthday is tomorrow.
· when the relative clause gives extra or non-essencial information.
· they go between commas (or a comma and a full stop).
· you cannot omit the relative pronoun (who, which, ...).
· you can't use that instead of who / which.
(*) (the relative pronoun is the subject of the subordinate clause)
(*2) the main clause and the relative clause have different subjects, e.g. She is the woman I helped yesterday. Never use a comma between the two clauses of the defining relative clauses.
· that is a common alternative to who / which in defining clauses.
· that cannot be used in non-defining clauses.
This is why is could be a good idea to always use who / which in both kinds of clauses to avoid error.
· whom is also sometimes used as a relative pronoun instead of who to refer to the object of the verb in the relative clause, or after prepositions, e.g. He's the man whom I met yesterday. She is the woman to whom I spoke yesterday. It is much less common and more formal than who.
Typical mistakes:
· confusing who and which, e.g. He's a friend which lives near him; He's a friend who lives near him.
· using a personal pronoun, e.g. He is the man who he works with my father; He is the man who works with my father.
· using that in non-defning relative clauses, e.g. This film, that won an Oscar in 2004, will be shown on TV tonight for the first time; This film, which won an Oscar in 2004, will be shown on TV tonight for the first time.
defining relative clauses
who/that Mary is the person who / that won the prize. (*)which/that
where This is the hospital where I was born.whose
(who/that) She is the woman (who / that) I met on the plane.
(which/that) This is the book (which / that) I bought for him./ It is a book which / that helps you with your English. (*)
whose This is the person whose wife was my English teacher.
· to give important information about a person, place or thing
(relative pronoun + subject + verb).
· who for people, which for things, where for places.
Whose means of who / of which.
· you can use that instead of who or which.
· you can omit who / which / that when the verbs in the
main clause and the relative clause have a different subject.
non-defining
relative
clauses
,who... ,/.
,which... ,/.
,where... ,/.
,whose... ,/.
I saw Mary last month, who is Tom's cousin.
This book, which was written by Shakespeary, is my favourite.
Ceuta, where I live, is an interesting city.
I saw Mary last month, whose birthday is tomorrow.
· when the relative clause gives extra or non-essencial information.
· they go between commas (or a comma and a full stop).
· you cannot omit the relative pronoun (who, which, ...).
· you can't use that instead of who / which.
(*) (the relative pronoun is the subject of the subordinate clause)
(*2) the main clause and the relative clause have different subjects, e.g. She is the woman I helped yesterday. Never use a comma between the two clauses of the defining relative clauses.
· that is a common alternative to who / which in defining clauses.
· that cannot be used in non-defining clauses.
This is why is could be a good idea to always use who / which in both kinds of clauses to avoid error.
· whom is also sometimes used as a relative pronoun instead of who to refer to the object of the verb in the relative clause, or after prepositions, e.g. He's the man whom I met yesterday. She is the woman to whom I spoke yesterday. It is much less common and more formal than who.
Typical mistakes:
· confusing who and which, e.g. He's a friend which lives near him; He's a friend who lives near him.
· using a personal pronoun, e.g. He is the man who he works with my father; He is the man who works with my father.
· using that in non-defning relative clauses, e.g. This film, that won an Oscar in 2004, will be shown on TV tonight for the first time; This film, which won an Oscar in 2004, will be shown on TV tonight for the first time.