Understanding Relative Clauses: Who, That, Which
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Lu Ballester- Relative clauses: clauses with who/that/which
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Powered by AIThe sentence 'The woman who lives next door to me, who has a beautiful garden, often helps us with ours,' merges both a defining ('who lives next door to me') and a non-defining ('who has a beautiful garden') relative clause. The defining clause specifies which woman is being referenced, while the non-defining clause adds additional, non-essential information about her, enhancing detail without altering the primary meaning .
The rules of relative pronouns enable the transformation of multiple-sentence constructs into more concise single-sentence constructs, which can deliver complex information in a streamlined, cohesive manner. For instance, 'I met a Canadian woman at the party. She is an English teacher.' can be synthetically reconstructed into 'I met a Canadian woman who is an English teacher,' integrating detail into a single flow rather than scattering it across multiple sentences .
'What' refers to 'the thing(s) that' and is generally used to introduce a clause about things or actions, as in 'What happened was my fault.' Conversely, 'that' is used within relative clauses for linking the relative pronoun to a specific noun, for example, 'Everything that happened was my fault' .
Using relative clauses beginning with 'which' can significantly enhance narrative style by providing necessary descriptive detail that enriches the reader's understanding of the text. For example, in sentences like 'a company which makes furniture,' the clause 'which makes furniture' succinctly funnels essential descriptive detail into the sentence, painting a vivid picture without overwhelming the reader with separate sentences .
Using incorrect relative pronouns can obscure clarity and undermine grammatical correctness, leading to misunderstandings about the subject or action being described. For instance, using 'what' instead of 'that' or 'which' as in 'The machine what broke down' could confuse readers as it disrupts standard subject-verb clarity and can lead to ambiguity in understanding the sentence’s context .
In English, relative pronouns such as 'who,' 'that,' and 'which' serve to specify and clarify relationships between clauses, enhancing specificity in descriptions. In contrast, languages lacking this differentiation often rely on contextual cues and additional descriptors to achieve similar specificity, which could lead to broader interpretations and less precision in cross-linguistic comparisons .
Relative clauses enhance sentence structures by providing additional information about the noun they modify, often specifying which person or thing is meant or describing the kind of person or thing. Their primary function is to make the meaning more specific, as seen in examples like 'the woman who lives next door to me' and 'stories that have unhappy endings' where clauses clarify the noun's identity or characteristics .
In certain cases, 'who' is necessary over 'that' particularly when the clause is directly referring to a specific individual or when clauses convey non-restrictive information about people. For example, 'Do you know anyone who wants to buy a car?' makes it clear that the information is specifically about a person and choosing 'who' adds clarity and correctness in such contexts .
The use of 'who,' 'that,' or 'which' in relative clauses is determined by whether the clause is referring to people or things. 'Who' is used for people, as in 'The woman who lives next door to me is a doctor.' 'That' can be used for people in some instances, but 'which' is only used for things, such as 'I don’t like stories that have unhappy endings' or 'a company which makes furniture' .
The sentence 'The machine what broke down is now working again' is incorrect because 'what' is used improperly in the relative clause. The correct pronoun is 'that' or 'which' when referring to things. Thus, the sentence should be corrected to 'The machine that broke down is now working again' or 'The machine which broke down is now working again' .
