RELATIVE CLAUSES: PARTICIPLE AND TO-INFINITIVE

A. Relative clauses with a paticiple.

Read this news report about an accident.
Several people were injured this morning when a lorry ca!i"# c$"cete pipes overturned in the centre
of town and hit two cars. Ambulances calle% t$ the sce"e took a long time to get through the rush hour
traffic. The accident happened in Alfred Road, where road repairs are under way. People who saw the
accident say that the lorry hit the cars after it swerved to avoid a pile of stones le&t i" the $a%. The
traffic chaos cause% '! the acci%e"t has meant long delays for people tavelli"# t$ w$(.
arrying concrete pipes, called to the scene, etc are relative clauses! they relate to a noun.
arrying concr ete pipes tells us something about a lorry.
"e can form these clauses with an active participle, e.g. carrying, ora passive participle, e.g. called.
The participles can refer to the present or the past.
). Active - Passive
There are delays this morning for people tavelli"# to work. #$ people who are travelling to work%
A lorry ca!i"# concrete pipes has overturned. #$ a lorry which was carrying pipes% the path lea%i"# to
the church #$ the path which leads & led to the church%
The active participle means the same as a pronoun ' a continuous verb, e.g. which is & was carrying, or a
pronoun ' a simple verb, e.g. which leads & led.
(ut we do NOT use the active participle for a single action in the past.
The police want to interview people wh$ saw the accident.
)*T people seeing the accident.
Relative clauses with a t$-i"&i"itive
+ook at this structure with the to,infinitive.
)ew -ealand was the &ist country t$ #ive women the vote. #$ the first country which gave women the
vote%
.elanie was the $"l! person t$ wite a letter of thanks. #$ the only person who wrote a letter of thanks%
/ere are some more e0amples.
The guest on our show is the !$u"#est golfer t$ wi" the *pen.
1mma Thompson is the *$st famous actess to appear on stage here.
"e can use a to,infinitive with these words! &ist, sec$"%, etc23 "e+t and last3 $"l!3 and superlatives, e.g.
!$u"#est, *$st &a*$us.
"e can leave out the noun #e0cept after only% if the meaning is clear.
The captain was the last to leave the sinking ship.
PRACTICE
4. Relative clauses with a participle. omplete the definitions. Put in an active or passive participle of these
verbs! add, arrive, block, own, play, take, tell, watch, wear.
e.g.
, A competitor is someone taking part in a competition.
, 5our property is everything owned by you.
6. (aseball is a game ....................................mainly in the 7S. played
8. A wrist,watch is a watch .................................. on your wrist. worn
9. A latecomer is a person.................................. late. arriving
:. An instruction is a statement.........................................you what to do. telling
;. A spectator is someone .........................................a game or an event. watching
<. An e0tension is a new part .........................................on to a building. added
=. An obstacle is something .........................................your way. blocking
44. Relative clauses with a participle. "rite each news item as one sentence. hange the part in brackets
into a clause with an active participle #e.g. costing%or apassive participle #e.g. found%.
,.A new motorway is planned. #4t will cost >;?? million.%
A new motorwaycosting >;?? million is planned.
, Some weapons belong to the 4RA. #They were found at a flat in (ristol.%
Some weapons found at a flat in (ristol belong to the 4RA.
6. @amilies have been evicted. #They were living in an empty office building.%
@amilies 222. living in an empty office building have been evicted.
8. A chemical company has gone bankrupt. #4t employed :,??? people.%
A chemical company222. employing four thousand people has gone bankrupt.
9. A bridge has been declared unsafe. #4t was built only two years ago.%
A bridge222. built only two years ago has been declared unsafe.
:. People have marched to +ondon. #They are protesting against pollution.%
222. People protesting against pollution have marched to London.
;. Tennis fans have been Aueuing all night at "imbledon. #They hope to buy tickets.%
222. Tennis fans hoping to buy tickets have been queuing all night at Wimbledon.
<. A new drug may give us eternalyouth. #4t was developed at a (ritish university.%
222. A new drug developed at a British university may give us eternal youth.
444. Relative clauses with a to,infinitive. omment on each situation. 7se the to,infinitive structure.
e.g. Bavid offered his help. )o one else did.
Bavid was the only person to offer his help.
6. *liviaCs daughter swam a length of the pool. )o other girl as young as her did that.
*liviaCs daughter was 222. the youngest girl to swim a length of the pool.
8.The secretaries got a pay rise. )o one else did.
The secretaries were 222. the only people to get a pay rise.
9. The pilot left the aircraft. 1veryone else had left before him.
222. The pilot was the last person to leave the aircraft.
:. .rs /arper became .anaging Birector. )o other woman had done that before.
222. rs !arper was the first woman to become anaging "irector.
;. Baniel applied for the job. )o other candidate as suitable as him applied.
222. "aniel was the most suitable candidate to apply for the #ob.
4D. Becide which word or phrase is correct.
?. "hat 4 really need is a long holiday.
A.that (. what . which B. who
6. At last 4Cve found the information that 4 was looking .........
A. for (. for it . for that B. it
8. 1veryone, the building was searched by the police.
A. enter (. entered . entering B. enters
9. The plane.......has just taken off is an hour late.
A. it (. what . which B. who
:. 4 had just one reply. Abco was the........company to reply to my letter.
A. last (. most .only B. second
;. .y friend )igel.........works in the ity, earns much more than 4 do.
A.that (. which . who B. whose
<. .artin is someone with ..........4 usually agree.
A. him (.that . who B. whom
=. 4Cd like to see the photo.......
A.took (. you took it .that you took B.that you took it
E. Atlanta is the city........the *lympic Fames were held in 6GG<.
A.that (. when . where B. which
G. 4t rained all the time ........ was a great pity.
A.that (. what . which B. who
6?. "e passed shops ......... windows were decorated for hristmas.
A.the (.their . which B. whose
D. 1ach of these sentences has a mistake in it. orrect the mistakes and rewrite the sentence.
e.g. 4Cve found the magaHine who was missing.
4Cve found the magaHine that was missing.
6. This isnCt the train on that 4 normally travel. This isn$t the train on which % normally travel.
8. The letter that 4 opened it wasnCt for me. The letter that % opened wasn$t for me.
9. The reason because 4 didnCt know was that no one had told me. The reason &why'that( % didn$t know was that
no one had told me.
:. That we should do is ring the police. What we should do is ring the police.
;. 4 didnCt know the name of the man helped me. % didn$t know the name of the man who'that helped me.
<. Rupert knows the family whoCs house is for sale. )upert knows the family whose house is for sale.
=. 1instein who failed his university entrance e0am discovered relativity. *instein+ who failed his university
entrance e,am+ discovered relativity.
E. The person we talked to were very friendly. The person we talked to was very friendly. or The people we
talked to were very friendly.
G. 4tCs the President makes the important decisions. %t$s the President who makes the important decisions.
6?. 4 canCt find my diary, what is real nuisnace. % can$t find my diary+ which is a real nuisance.
66. *utside the door was a pair of boots covering in mud. -utside the door was a pair of boots covered in mud.
68 .+ake,Suiperior,, that lies,on,the 7S anadian border is the largest,lake in,)orth,America. Lake .uperior+
which lies on the /.01anadian border+ is the largest lake in 2orth America.
D4. omplete the story about a thiefCs punishment. "rite the missing words. 7se one word only in each
space.
This is a true story #?% which is supposed to have happened somewhere in the 7S. A man #6% .............. was
accused of housebreaking appeared in court. /e had put his arm through the window of a house and stolen
some money #8% .............. was lying on a table inside. The argument #9% .............. the manCs lawyer put
forward wasnCt very impressive. /e said that #:% .............. was the manCs arm #;% .............. had committed the
crime and not the man himself. C5ou cannot punish a man for #<% .............. his arm has done,C said the lawyer.
)ow the judge in #=% .............. court the man was appearing wanted to show how stupid the lawyerCs
argument was. 4nstead of finding the man guilty, he found the manCs arm guilty and sent it to prison. C/e can
go with his arm or not, as he chooses,C the judge added, #E% .............. made everyone laugh. (ut #G% ..............
the judge didnCt know was that the man had an artificial arm. /e took the arm off, gave it to the judge , #6?%
..............could hardly believe his eyes , and walked out of the court.
3. who &Also possible4 that( 5. that'which 6. that'which 7. it 8. that'which 9. What :. whose ;.which <. what
3=. who
D44. ombine the two sentences into one.
e.g.That man was AnnaCs brother. /e just walked past.
The manwho just walked past was AnnaCs brother.
6. The plane was twenty,five years old. 4t crashed.
The plane ..............twenty,five years old. that'which crashed was '+ which crashed+ was
8. *ne day Tessa was ill in bed. .artin rang.
The day ..............ill in bed. &when'that( artin rang &+( Tessa was
9. *ur offices are in Iueen Street. They are new.
*ur ..............in Iueen Street. new offices are 'offices+ which are new+ are
:. Some documents have been found. They were stolen from a car.
The documents..............found. stolen from a car have been or that'which were stolen from a car have been
;. That map is out of date. 5ou were looking at it.
The map ..............out of date. &that'which( you were looking at is
<. The JingCs Theatre is in the centre of town. 4t dates from 6EG<.
The JingCs..............in the centre of town. Theatre+ which dates from 3;<9+ is
=. A woman was terribly upset. /er dog wasrun over.
The woman ..............terribly upset. whose dog was run over was
E. Kanet solved the puHHle. She did it before everyone else.
Kanet was..............the puHHle. the first &person( to solve 'the first &person( who solved
G. A man was standing outside the building. /e was selling newspapers.
A man..............outside the building. selling newspapers was standing or who was selling newspapers was
standing
6?. The talk was very interesting. Kudy gave it.
The talk ..............very interesting. &that'which( >udy gave was '+ which >udygave+ was
66. The house is empty now. 4 used to live there.
The house ..............is empty now. where % used to live is '&that'which( % used to live in 'in which% used to live