RELATIVE CLAUSES. Theory ( By Brenda Wadley)



RELATIVE CLAUSES: TYPES

            Relative clauses qualify nouns or pronouns. The noun qualified is called 'antecedent'.
        There two types of relative clauses:  defining and non defining relative clauses

         1-Defining relative clauses
                  They are essential to the meaning of the sentence, to the understanding of the
                    noun they qualify. The pronoun can be omitted when is the object of the clause.
              We can replace “who” or “which” with “that”
              
  Example:  The man who wrote that poem is coming to tea.

Without the relative clause "who wrote that poem" we wouldn't know which man is referred to in the sentence.  The relative clause defines the man.

More examples: That's the boy who broke the window.
                              (which boy? - the one who.....)
                   Here's the book (that) I was looking for.
                        (which book? - the one I was....)

            2-Non- defining relative clauses
                They do not define the noun but merely add some more information about it.
                 These clauses are not essential, they can be omitted. They are separated
             by commas . The pronoun can never be omitted. “That” can never be used.
                  They are not common in spoken English.

   Example: My brother Tom, whom you met last week, is
                 coming for tea. 

The Non-defining relative clauses MUST BE PLACED BETWEEN COMMAS to avoid confusion in the meaning of certain sentences.

   Ex: My wife, who lives in New York, has just written to me.
       My wife who lives in New York has just written to me.
If we compare these two sentences, we find that they have very different meanings.  The second one suggests that the wife who has written is the one who lives in N.Y., but the writer may have other wives...!
PRONOUNS:


                            People                         Things

DEFINING:         Subj.  That/ who                               that/which
                         Obj.   That/(who/whom)             that/(which)     Omission is posssible         
                           Poss.   Whose                        
                          Place                                                     where

NON-DEFINING: Subj.  Who                                         which
                          Obj.    Who/whom                                  which
                           Poss.  Whose                                       whose       

                         Place                                         where

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