RELATIVE
CLAUSES
f. Merve uzun
What is relative clause?
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.
Relative clause is the subject.
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.
Relative clause is the object.
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.
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
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.
When
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.
Exercise
Do you know the girl? She started the prep school last week?
I want to live in a city. There are a lot of things to do there.
I dont want to eat in the restaurant. Its cooks smoke.
The family comes from Germany. The family is living in the next
house.
Most of the parents were invited to the conference. They didnt come.