Relative Clause
meaning
relative clause is one kind of dependent clause. It has a
subject and verb, but can't stand alone as a sentence. It is
sometimes called an “adjective clause” because it
functions like an adjective—it gives more information
about a noun.
Type of Relative Clause
Defining relative cluse The information define a noun and is
therefore essential to the meaning
ex : The national carbon company was the first manufacturer wich
recognized the potential of the dry cell battery
Non-defining relative clause The ,but themaybe usefull but the
sentence would still be meaningfull without it
ex : Claude monet, who spent much of his cillhood in le havre, was a
founder of French impressionist painting
The relative pronouns who and whom for people which for things can represent
the subject or object of a defining clause
5.1 Defining Relative Clause
The Relative pronouns Which And Who can be replaced with that in deifning
relative clause and can be replace altoghether when they relate to the object of the
sentence
ex : The fisrt car I bought was Honda
The fisrt car that I bought was a Honda
The first car I bought was a Honda
However, in academic English, who is rarely changed to that when it relates to
the subject
ex : Saint Laurent has been describe as the designer who changed the world of
woman’s fashion.
Who and Which tend to be left out altogether only when they are followed by a
pronoun.
ex : The Scientist who/that The American hired were originally from
German
The method we use to learn language vary from country to
country
DON’T repeat the object in a defining relative clause
We’re going to finish the representation whith the slide (that) I
showed you it at the beginning
5.2 Non-defining relative clause
Non-defining clause are separatied fro the rest of the sentence commas
The relative pronouns who or which can refer to the object of the clause as above
or the subject
ex: Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the Guggenheim Museum in
New York,was recognized in1991 by the American institute of
Architects as the greatest American architect off all time
In Non-defining clause “Who and which” cannot be left out or change with
”that”
Non-defining clause do not always have to come n the middle of sentence ; they
can came at the end to
ex : A great deal has been written about the naturalist Joy Adamsom, who
famously raised a lion cub herself
A relative clause beginning with “which” at the end of a sentence can be useful in
referring to a whole idea,rather than a specific noun.
ex : in his Speeches Martin Luther King often referred to the hope of building a
new America, which inspired many of the audience to take up active politic for the first
time.