Relative Clauses
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.
Defining and
Non-defining
A defining relative clause tells which noun we
are talking about:
- 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).
A non-defining relative clause gives us extra
information about something. We don't need this information to understand the
sentence.
- I live
in London, which has some fantastic parks.
(Everybody knows where London is, so 'which has some fantastic parks' is
extra information).
Defining relative
clauses:
1: The relative pronoun is the subject:
First, let's consider when the relative pronoun is the
subject of a defining relative clause.
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 clause can come after the subject or the
object of the sentence. We can't drop the relative pronoun.
For example (clause after the object of the sentence):
- I'm
looking for a secretary who / that can use a computer well.
- She has
a son who / that is a doctor.
- We
bought a house which / that is 200 years old.
- I sent
a letter which / that arrived three weeks later.
More examples (clause after the subject of the
sentence):
- The
people who / that live on the island are very friendly.
- The man
who / that phoned is my brother.
- The
camera which / that costs £100 is over there.
- The
house which / that belongs to Julie is in London.
2: The relative pronoun is the object:
Next, let's talk about 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. Here are some examples:
(Clause after the object)
- She
loves the chocolate (which / that) I bought.
- We went
to the village (which / that) Lucy recommended.
- John
met a woman (who / that) I had been to school with.
- The
police arrested a man (who / that) Jill worked with.
(Clause after the subject)
- The
bike (which / that) I loved was stolen.
- The
university (which / that) she likes is famous.
- The
woman (who / that) my brother loves is from Mexico.
- The
doctor (who / that) my grandmother liked lives in New York.
Non-defining relative
clauses:
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 subject of the clause.
(Clause comes after the subject)
- My
boss, who is very nice, lives in Manchester.
- My
sister, who I live with, knows a lot about cars.
- My
bicycle, which I've had for more than ten years, is falling apart.
- My
mother's house, which I grew up in, is very small.
(Clause comes after the object)
- Yesterday
I called our friend Julie, who lives in New York.
- The
photographer called to the Queen, who looked annoyed.
- Last
week I bought a new computer, which I don't like now.
- I
really love the new Chinese restaurant, which we went to last night.
Prepositions and
relative clauses
If the verb in the relative clause needs a
preposition, we put it at the end of the clause:
For example:
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.
The country is very hot. He went to the country.
→ The country (which / that) he went to is very hot.
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
'Whose' is always the subject of the relative clause
and can't be left out. It replaces a possessive. It can be used for people and
things.
The dog is over there. The dog's / its owner lives
next door.
→ The dog whose owner lives next door is over there.
The little girl is sad. The little girl's / her doll
was lost.
→ The little girl whose doll was lost is sad.
The woman is coming tonight. Her car is a BMW.
→ The woman whose car is a BMW is coming tonight.
The house belongs to me. Its roof is very old.
→ The house whose roof is old belongs to me.
Where / when / why
We can sometimes use these question words instead of
relative pronouns and prepositions.
I live in a city. I study in the city.
→ I live in the city where I study.
→ I live in the city that / which I study in.
→ I live in the city in which I study.
The bar in Barcelona is still there. I met my wife in
that bar.
→ The bar in Barcelona where I met my wife is still there.
→ The bar in Barcelona that / which I met my wife in is still
there.
→ The bar in Barcelona in which I met my wife is still there.
The summer was long and hot. I graduated from
university in the summer.
→ The summer when I graduated from university was long and hot.
→ The summer that / which I graduated from university in was long
and hot.
→ The summer in which I graduated was long and hot.
Sumber :
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/relative-clauses.html