Relative Clauses

A clause is a structure built by two main constituents: a noun phrase (subject) and a verb
phrase (predicate) and it expresses one single idea. The predicate is a verb phrase which
means that is ormed by a verb with any objects and other modiiers.
!ain clauses can be named matrix clauses or independent clauses " could stand as a
sentence by themselves " it contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought
in both context and meaning.
#ubordinate clauses can be named embedded clauses or dependent clauses" could be
nonsensical i are used alone" it contains a subject and a verb but does not express a
complete thought. They are joined to an independent clause to orm a complex sentence.
A sentence is more complex than a clause" can include more than one idea" can be
complex or compound and it usually expresses more than one idea.
The subordinate clause which incorporate a relative pronoun is called a relative clause.
The meaning o the relative clause can dier depending on whether the relative pronoun
is preceded by a comma. $or example: % got a ride with my riend who was also going to
the theatre" implies that among all my riends % rode with that who was also going to the
theatre. %n the example: % got a ride with my riend" who was also going to the theatre" the
relative clause reers to a particular riend and ma&es no distinction between him and
other riend because it ma&es no reerence to other riend at all. %n the irst sentence" the
relative clause is a re'uired part o the sentence and thus is called an essential relative
clause.
%n the second sentence" it is not re'uired (the relative clause can be omitted: % got a ride
with my riend) and thus is called a nonessential relative clause.
!ain clause allows a variety o constructions" allows all distinctions o aspect" tense and
mood and also allows tag 'uestions.
#ubordinate clause appears in the declarative orm only and usually does not express ull
meaning by itsel.
A clause is a group o words containing a subject (noun(phrase()*) and a predicate (verb
phrase( +*) conveying a statement" 'uestion" exclamation or command.
A sentence is a set o words typically containing more than one clause" and consisting o
a main clause and sometimes one or more subordinate clauses.
The subordinate clause is oten less important than the main clause and can be oten
deleted. $or example: !ary that is ugly loves ,ohn. That is ugly- can be deleted and the
main clause is: !ary loves john. .That is ugly- is the subordinate clause introduced by a
subordinator " the relative pronoun .that-. /y combining sentences with a relative clause
the text becomes more luently and it can be avoid repeating certain words.
Clauses are either inite or non(inite.
$inite verb phrases carry tense" and the clauses containing them are inite clauses" or
example: % wrote my homewor& yesterday(inite clause" past tense verb.
0n the other hand" noninite verb phrases do not carry tense. Their main verb is either a
to(ininitive" a bare ininitive" an 1ed orm" or an 1ing orm. $or example: !ary li&es to
play the piano.(to( ininitive).
The relative clauses are inite clauses because the relative clause post(modiies the head
noun o a noun phrase.
$or example: !ary that loves ,ohn is ugly. !ary that loves ,ohn is the subject" is(
predicate and ugly is the subject complement.
2
That loves ,ohn(post(modiies the noun !ary.
That loves ,ohn(the subordinate clause is embedded in the main clause: .!ary is ugly.-
This embedded is a eature o all subordinate clauses.
#
)* +*
34T ) + +*
( ) #5
6oves
)
!ary That is ugly ,ohn
As Rachel 7endery in Relative Clauses in Time and #pace" page 28 said that:
-#yntactically an adjoined relative clause is the opposite o an embedded one-. .%t is
loosely connected to the main clause both syntactically and semantically- as Comrie
599::5;(58 claims.
As Rachel 7endery in Relative Clauses said: .%t allows other material to intervene
between it and its reerent (although we should not assume that all clauses that allow this
are necessarily adjoined) and is never surrounded by main clause material. These eatures
imply that the relative clause and the main clause do not orm a constituent. An adjoined
relative clause oten allows multiple interpretations" not all o which are e'uivalent to a
relative clause-.
An adjoined relative clause is one which is not a constituent o its main clause. %t
conse'uently has no syntactic unction there. %t is not embedded" this means that apart
rom parenthetical constructions it either precedes or ollows the main clause.
The embedded clause is a constituent o its main clause. An embedded relative clause is
most li&e an adjectival expanded to a clause. #ome o them are more li&e appositions than
li&e attributes proper.
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/y their position ace(to(ace with the head noun" may be distinguished:
a. *re(nominal relative clause
b. *ost(nominal relative clause
c. Circum(nominal relative clause
$or example:
2. This is the boo& that my colleague give.(pre(nominal
5. <ou &now the teacher he gave the present to.(post(nominal
:. % put the dog in the nest that you made.(circum(nominal
0ther eatures relevant or the structural description o a relative clause include the
means by which it is subordinated and nominali=ed >adjectivi=ed" the means that lin&s it
as an attributive to the head nominal and the way the head is represented in the
subordinate clause. This latter aspect is lin&ed with the syntactic unctions that the head
may have inside the relative clause.
The degree o nominali=ation o a relative clause correlates with two other properties:
with its positional type and with its achievement on the hierarchy o syntactic unctions.
Adjoined relative clauses generally shows no signs o nominali=ation. Circum(nominal
and post(nominal relative clauses tend to be wea&ly nominali=ed. *re(nominal relative
clauses are nominali=ed most strongly.
At the point o strongest nominali=ation" we ind the so(called relative participle.
(%ng participle clauses can replace both deining and non(deining relative clauses with an
active verb.
$or example:
A new road has been built" which by passes the town.
A new road has been built" bypassing the town.
(4d participle
?hen the relative clause contains a passive verb" both the relative pronoun and the
auxiliary .be- can be omitted.
$or example:
The area (which was) chosen or development was near the river.
?hen the relative clause contains only a relative pronoun and the verb .be-" both may be
omitted.
$or example:
The townspeople"(who were) tired o traic pollution" decided to ta&e action.
As Rachel 7endery in Relative Clause in Time and #pace" page 2@ claims that:
.Relative clauses" by deinition have the ollowing eatures:
2. They contain some orm o a verb (not necessarily inite)A
5. They are lin&ed in some way to another clauseA
:. They delimit the reerence o a noun phrase by speciying the role o the
reerent o that noun phrase in the situation described by the relative
clause.-
The relative clause is sometimes called an .adjective clause- because it unctions li&e an
adjective because it gives more inormation about a noun.
:
Relative clauses are introduced by relative pronouns which reer bac& to the head o the
noun phrase and are subordinate ine clause. Relative clauses are used in order to give
additional inormation about something without starting another sentence. /y combining
sentences with a Relative clause the text becomes more luently and it can be avoid
repeating certain words.
The Relative clause is introduced by:
a. Relative pronouns: who" whom" which" what" that" asA
b. Relative adjectives: whose" which" whatA
c. Relative adverbs: when" where" why.
The Relative Clause may be: main clause when is introduced by the relative pronoun
which replace an entire previous sentenceA attributive or adjectival clause when it is
Restrictive Relative ClauseA noun clause" or example: ?hat she heard was
trueBsubjectiveA adverbial clause" or example: #he never li&e !ary" who is a selish
personBcausal.
A relativiser is a relative pronoun or adverb that introduce the inite relative clauses.
The 4nglish relativisers are: who" whom" whose" which" that" where" when" why and =ero
(9).
As ./urton Roberts" )oel (28;C)" pg.55@ (Analysing sentences: An introduction to
4nglish syntax) claims we can irst classiy the relative clauses by the type o missing
element in the relative clause-. $or example:
a. the teacher who read the newspaper
b. the child who everyone loves
c. the librarian rom whom % borrowed this boo&
d. the doctor whom !ary gave a medical chec&up
e. the wee& when you met him
. the club where we can go.
The missing phrase can be subject" object or obli'ue argument" prepositional object" or
even a temporal or locative adjunct.
.Relative clauses can also be classiied by the type o relative pronoun: in 4nglish we
ind wh(relatives" that(relatives and bare relatives (that in relative clauses is a orm o a
relative pronoun).
a. The president Dwho D$red voted orEE has resigned.
b. The president Dthat D$red voted orEE disli&es his opponents.
c. The president D(D$red voted orEE has resigned.
?h( relatives li&e (a) have a wh(type relative pronoun" (b) has the relative pronoun that"
while (c) has no relative pronoun at all.-
As /urton Roberts" )oel (28;C) pg.55C said: .4nglish allows so called .reduced- relative
clauses. The examples are .reduced- in the sense that the string .wh(phrase F be- appears
to be omitted" as indicated in the parentheses:
a. The person (who is) standing on my oot.
b. The prophet (who was) descended rom heaven.
c. The bills (which were) passed by the 7ouse yesterday
d. The people (who are) in Rome
e. The people (who are) happy with the proposal-.
As /urton Roberts" )oel (28;C)" pg.5:2" subject relative clauses are not very much
dierent rom non(subject relative clauses in terms o modiying a nominal expression.
G
0ne main dierence is that the presence o a wh(relative pronoun including that is
obligatory and bare relative clauses are ungrammatical:
2. ?e called the senator (who) met $red.
5. The &id pic&ed up the apple (that) ell down on the ground.
:. (The student (Hmet ,ohn)) came.
G. (The problem (Hintrigued us)) bothered me)-.
That can be used as a complementi=er or as a relative pronoun.
$or example complementi=er that: #he &nows that we are happy.
$or example relative pronoun: This is the ilm Dthat we-ve loo&ed atE.
The relative pronoun that disallows genitive" or example: the whose turn it wasBthe ma
that-s turn it was.
As /urton Roberts" )oel (28;C) said" the relative pronoun has no accusative case" hence
cannot be the complement o a preposition that assigns accusative to it. The relative who"
unli&e relative pronouns li&e whose" whom and which" has the same property in this
respect:
a. The people Din who we placed our trustEI
b. The person Dwith who we were tal&ingEI
%ninitival relative clause unction as a modiier to the preceding noun and contain a
relative pronoun but need not.
$or example: #he bought a boo& Dthat we readHE.
?hen we choose the pronouns we thin& at the addressee" i it is subjective" objective or
possessive" i the clause is deining or non(deining and in ormal or inormal style.
Relative clauses: 3eining or )on(3eining are also named Restrictive or )on(
Restrictive or %dentiying or )on(%dentiying.
0nly in 3eining Clauses we use .that- or people and things. 3eining Relative Clauses
are used in speech and writing and )on(3eining are ormal and are used more in writing
than in speech.
3eining Relative Clauses deine>identiy>restrict the preceding nouns but )on(3eining
Relative Clause add additional inormation about someone>something which is
deined>identiied. The sentence relatives are only introduced by .which-.
Relative clauses are complex sentence proper" based on subordination. Relative clauses
constitute a class o embedded clauses which are members o )oun(*hrases and their
subordination depend on the act that the matrix and the subordination clause share a co(
reerential noun phrase ()*).
The categorical constituents o relative clauses is namely a class o embedded clauses
which are members o noun phrases and in which the subordination depends on the act
that the matrix and the subordinate clause share a co(reerential noun phrase.
%t exists two cases:
The irst case is that the embedded clause contains a noun phrase co(reerential with the
antecedent which unctions as direct object o received.
%n the second case the clause is a simple complement clause.
$ree Relative Clauses or %ndependent Clauses are prononminali=ed by demonstrative
pronouns and by ordinary personal.
#et o pronouns and adverbs are:
a. simple orms: what" who" where" when
@
b. compound orms: whoever" whatever" whichever" whenever" however.
)ominal Relative Clauses
)ominal Relative Clauses are introduced by a wh(word: who>whoever" what>whatever"
which>whichever. The antecedent o wh(word is expressed" but due to its general
reerence" it can be easily inerred. $or example: ?hat he did was wrong. The antecedent
o .what- is -the thing- "but since it does not carry any relevant inormation" it is omitted.
Consider also the ollowing example: #he spo&e to whomever she met. The antecedent
.whomever- is .any person- but since it can be easily inerred" a single item with general
reerence is used.
The antecedent is the word or sentence to which reer a pronoun" adjective or an relative
adverb.
Relative clauses without expressed antecedent are also called ree relative clauses or
nominal relative clauses as they are distributed in the same positions as a noun. The
meaning o the wh(word can be speciic or non(speciic.
$or example:
2. % understand what you mean (.that which you mean-(speciic).
5. #he-ll do whatever she li&es (.anything-(non(speciic).
As shown beore" wh(words can appear both in interrogative and relative nominal
clauses" while(ever compounds are used only in relative nominal clauses.
)ominal Relative Clauses can be distributed in:
2. 3irect 0bject *osition
$or example:
2. #he bought whatever she li&ed.
5. #he met whomever she chose.
Jnli&e relative clauses" nominal relative clauses re'uire that the preposition be placed at
the end o the sentence.
$or example: They too& what they paid or.
The wh(word introducing the nominal relative clause generally have speciic meaning.
$or example: #he too& what was on the table. (the thing which was on the table).
The wh(word compounds (including the suix 1ever) have non(speciic meaning.
$or example: #he too& whatever was on the table. (anything which were on the table).
#ometimes sentences introduced by wh(words are ambiguous( they may either be indirect
'uestions or nominal relative clauses.
$or example: They as&ed me what % &new. 0ne possible reading o the sentence is .that
they wanted to &now what % &new-A the other possible reading is that .they as&ed me thing
that % &new-.
C
5. #ubject *osition
$or example:
2. ?hat she did was a mista&e.
5. ?hatever she tried was successul.

:. %ndirect 0bject *osition
$or example: 7e sent whoever he &new a card rom *aris.
G. *redicative *osition
$or example: #he can be whatever she li&es.
@. Appositive position
$or example: %-ll tell you the truthA what happened was all ,ohn-s doing.
C. *repositional complement position
$or example: #he used to argue with whomever she met.
K. 0bject Complement *osition
$or example: They called him whatever he li&ed.
K
3eining and )on(3eining Relative Clause
3eining Relative Clause are used in deinitions" are not put in commas and give detailed
inormation deining general term or expression.
$or example: A doctor is someone who wor&s in hospital.
%n 3eining Relative Clause we can dropped the object pronouns and the sentences with a
relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.
$or example: The child (who) % met yesterday is very smart.
)on(3eining Relative Clauses give additional inormation on something but don-t
deine it" are put in commas and in this case must be used object pronouns. $or example:
,ohn" whom>who % met yesterday is very smart.
Relative clauses with who" which" that as subject pronoun can be replaced with a
participle and the sentence becomes shorter and easier to understand.
$or example: 3o you see the child who play in the gardenLB3o you see the child playing
in the gardenL
As Alice /adescu in Mramatica 6imbii 4ngle=e" (28;G) claims: . The Restrictive Relative
Clause determine his antecedent and distinguish rom the other similar objects" the object
named antecedent. The Restrictive Relative Clause is attributive. The 3escriptive or
Continuative Clause .explain- the meaning o the antecedent-.
The restrictive relative pronoun .that- introduce restrictive relative clause.
?ho" whom" which" what" as and the relative adverbs introduce not only restrictive
relative clause but also descriptive clause.
;