Relative clauses / Αναφορικές προτάσεις

Relative clauses / Αναφορικές προτάσεις

Να διαβάσετε προσεκτικά τα παρακάτω ζεύγη προτάσεων:

1.       The girl is from America. She is acting in this film. (ποια είναι η ηθοποιός;)

2.      Jennifer Lawrence is from America. She is acting in this film. (γνωρίζουμε την ηθοποιό)

Defining  Relative  Clauses (προσδιοριστικές αναφορικές προτάσεις)

Type  A.

The girl who is acting in this film is from America.

Εδώ η αναφορική πρόταση (who is acting in this film ) είναι αναγκαία για να προσδιορίσουμε το κορίτσι, δηλαδή σε ποια ηθοποιό αναφερόμαστε, ποια είναι η ηθοποιός. Με άλλα λόγια, αν παραλείψουμε τη αναφορική φράση who is acting in thisfilm   δε θα μπορούμε να αντιληφθούμε για ποιο κορίτσι μιλάμε (και γράφουμε!). Άρα είναιπροσδιοριστική (defining clause).

Non–defining Clauses (μη προσδιοριστικές προτάσεις)

Type B.

Jennifer Lawrence, who is acting in this film, is from America.

Εδώ το κορίτσι έχει ήδη προσδιοριστεί (αναγνωριστεί), επομένως η αναφορική πρόταση δεν είναι αναγκαία. Απλά προσθέτει extra πληροφόρηση. Με άλλα λόγια δε χρειάζεται να μάθουμε από την αναφορική φράση ‘who is acting in this film’ ποιο είναι το κορίτσι γιατί ήδη γνωρίζουμε ότι είναι  η Jennifer Lawrence. Είναι λοιπόν παρενθετική η πρόταση.Άρα, λέμε ότι είναι μη προσδιοριστική (non-defining clause).

H διαφορά είναι εξαιρετικά σημαντική επειδή:

Στην A (defining clauses):

1.       Δε χρησιμοποιούμε ΠΟΤΕ ΚΟΜΜΑΤΑ.

2.      Μπορούμε να χρησιμοποιήσουμε το THAT για ΠΡΟΣΩΠΑ και ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ.

3.      Μπορούμε να ΠΑΡΑΛΕΙΨΟΥΜΕ το THAT αν είναι αντικείμενο.

Δηλαδή:

The girl who is acting in this film is from America.

Μπορεί να ξαναγραφτεί: The girl  that is acting in this film is from America.

Σημείωση: Το ‘that’ δεν μπορεί να παραλειφθεί εδώ επειδή είναι το υποκείμενο του ρήματος.

Παράδειγμα: The man whom we saw tonight is from Crete.

Μπορεί να ξαναγραφτεί: The man we saw tonight is from Crete. (‘that’ = object)

Αν το σημείο αναφοράς (η λέξη που προσδιορίζεται από την αναφορική πρόταση) είναι το αντικείμενο μιας πρόθεσης, τότε η πρόθεση μπαίνει πριν από τα “whom“, “which“, ΑΛΛΑ διατηρεί την αρχική της θέση και μετά το “that” και όταν το “that” παραλείπεται.

Έτσι: The man to whom I introduced you is from Crete

Αλλά:  The man that I introduced you to is from Crete.

The man I introduced you to is from Crete.

Σημείωση: ‘whose’ δε μπορεί να αντικατασταθεί από το ‘that’ και δεν μπορεί να παραλειφθεί.

Στη Β (Non-defining Relative Clauses)

1.       Πρέπει πάντα να έχουμε ΚΟΜΜΑΤΑ.

2.      Δεν πρέπει ΠΟΤΕ να χρησιμοποιούμε το THAT..

3.      Δεν πρέπει ΠΟΤΕ να παραλείπουμε το THAT.

Επομένως, εάν η πρόταση είναι ‘μη-προσδιοριστική’ υπάρχει μόνο ένας σωστός τύπος.

Να θυμάστε:

§  WHO + WHOM  για ΠΡΟΣΩΠΑ στις DEFINING και NON-DEFININGπροτάσεις.

§  WHICH για ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ σε DEFINING and NON-DEFINING CLAUSES.

§  THAT για ΠΡΟΣΩΠΑ και ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ μόνο σε DEFINING CLAUSES

Exercise.

Now look at the joined pairs of sentences using Relative Clauses.

1. The Greenwood Boys will be giving three performances. They arrive tomorrow.

___The Greenwood Boys, who arrive tomorrow, will be giving three performances____.

2. The young man was very rude. He was sitting behind the writer at the theatre.

___The young man who was sitting behind the writer at the theatre  was very rude.__

3. My aunt never tells anyone her age. She is an actress.

___My aunt, who is an actress, never tells anybody her age.__

4. The tramp is called Percy Buttons. I gave him a meal and a glass of beer.

___I gave a meal and a glass of beer to the tramp who is called Percy Buttons.__

5. The writer did not send any of the cards. He bought them on the last day of his holidays.

___The writer did nit send any of the cards he bought on the last day of his holidays.___

Relative clauses

Relative clauses are clauses starting with the relative pronouns who*, that, which, whose, where, when. They are most often used to define or identify the noun that precedes them. Here are some examples:

• Do you know the girl who started in grade 7 last week?
• Can I have the pencil that I gave you this morning?
• A notebook is a computer which can be carried around.
• I won't eat in a restaurant whose cooks smoke.
• I want to live in a place where there is lots to do.
• Yesterday was a day when everything went wrong!

* There is a relative pronoun whom, which can be used as the object of the relative clause. For example: My science teacher is a person whom I like very much. To many people the wordwhom now sounds old-fashioned, and it is rarely used in spoken English.

Relative pronouns are associated as follows with their preceding noun:

Preceding noun	Relative pronoun	Examples
a person	who(m)/that, whose	- Do you know the girl who .. - He was a man that .. - An orphan is a child whose parents ..
a thing	which†/that, whose	- Do you have a computer which .. - The oak a tree that .. - This is a book whose author ..

Note 1: The relative pronoun whose is used in place of the possessive pronoun. It must be followed by a noun. Example: There's a boy in grade 8 whose father is a professional tennis player. (There's a boy in grade 8. His father is a professional tennis player.)

Note 2: The relative pronouns where and when are used with place and time nouns. Examples:FIS is a school where children from more than 50 countries are educated. 2001 was the year when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers in New York.

Some relative clauses are not used to define or identify the preceding noun but to give extra information about it. Here are some examples:

• My ESL teacher, who came to Germany in 1986, likes to ride his mountain bike.
• The heavy rain, which was unusual for the time of year, destroyed most of the plants in my garden.
• Einstein, who was born in Germany, is famous for his theory of relativity.
• The boy, whose parents both work as teachers at the school, started a fire in the classroom.
• My mother's company, which makes mobile phones, is moving soon from Frankfurt to London.
• In the summer I'm going to visit Italy, where my brother lives.

Note 1: Relative clauses which give extra information, as in the example sentences above, mustbe separated off by commas.

Note 2: The relative pronoun that cannot be used to introduce an extra-information (non-defining) clause about a person. Wrong: Neil Armstrong, that was born in 1930, was the first man to stand on the moon. Correct: Neil Armstrong, who was born in 1930, was the first man to stand on the moon.

There are two common occasions, particularly in spoken English, when the relative pronoun is omitted:

1. When the pronoun is the object of the relative clause. In the following sentences the pronoun that can be left out is enclosed in (brackets):

• Do you know the girl (who/m) he's talking to?
• Where's the pencil (which) I gave you yesterday?
• I haven't read any of the books (that) I got for Christmas.
• I didn't like that girl (that) you brought to the party.
• Did you find the money (which) you lost?

Note: You cannot omit the relative pronoun a.) if it starts a non-defining relative clause, or, b.) if it is the subject of a defining relative clause. For example, who is necessary in the following sentence: What's the name of the girl who won the tennis tournament?

2. When the relative clause contains a present or past participle and the auxiliary verb to be. In such cases both relative pronoun and auxiliary can be left out:

• Who's that man (who is) standing by the gate?
• The family (that is) living in the next house comes from Slovenia.
• She was wearing a dress (which was) covered in blue flowers.
• Most of the parents (who were) invited to the conference did not come.
• Anyone (that is) caught writing on the walls will be expelled from school.

How to Form Relative Clauses 

·         Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. You could say:

·         A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?

·         That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing  – you want to know who the girl is.

·         Do you know the girl …

·         As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information  – the girl is talking to Tom. Use „the girl“ only in the first part of the sentence, in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun „who“). So the final sentence is:

·         Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Relative Pronouns 

relative pronoun	use	example
who	subject or object pronoun for people	I told you about the woman who lives next door.
which	subject or object pronoun for animals and things	Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof?
which	referring to a whole sentence	He couldn’t read which surprised me.
whose	possession for people animals and things	Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?
whom	object pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we colloquially preferwho)	I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.
that	subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)	I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen.

Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun? 

·         Subject and object pronouns cannot be distinguished by their forms - who, which, that are used for subject and object pronouns. You can, however, distinguish them as follows:

·         If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun. Subject pronouns must always be used.

·         the apple which is lying on the table

·         If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is an object pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining relative clauses, which are then called Contact Clauses.

·         the apple (which) George lay on the table

Relative Adverbs 

·         A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the sentence easier to understand.

·         This is the shop in which I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.

relative adverb	meaning	use	example
when	in/on which	refers to a time expression	the day when we met him
where	in/at which	refers to a place	the place where we met him
why	for which	refers to a reason	the reason why we met him

Defining Relative Clauses 

·         Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive relative clauses) give detailed information defining a general term or expression. Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.

·         Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.

·         Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

·         Defining relative clauses are often used in definitions.

·         A seaman is someone who works on a ship.

·         Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)

·         The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.

Non-Defining Relative Clauses 

·         Non-defining relative clauses (also called non-identifying relative clauses or non-restrictive relative clauses) give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.

·         Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you mean.

·         Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?

·         Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.

·         Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.

·         Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.

·         How to Shorten Relative Clauses? 

·         Relative clauses with who, which, that as subject pronoun can be replaced with a participle. This makes the sentence shorter and easier to understand.

·         I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the woman living next door.

·         Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on the roof?

1. The relative pronoun as subject

1.1. When the relative pronoun is subject of a clause and refers to a human, the relative pronoun who is generally used. : 

Examples 
     The man who lives next door is 99.
     I know someone who eats red hot chilli peppers.

Sometimes, who is replaced by that, especially in American English and in spoken language: 

Examples 
     The boy that lost his watch was careless.
However,
The boy who lost his watch was careless.
is also quite possible. 

After the antecedent those, who is almost always required: 
Those who can swim should go first.

1.2. If the relative is the subject of a clause and refers to an inanimate antecedent, whichor that must be used.

Examples 
     The book that’s on the table is mine.
The book which is on the table is mine.

1.3. IMPORTANT:
Omission: As subject of a clause, the relative pronoun can never be omitted. However, the relative clause can be completely omitted:

Examples 
            The book is on the table is mine   is quite impossible, but
            The book on the table is mine   is perfectly acceptable.

2. The relative pronoun as object:

When the relative pronoun is the direct object of the clause, and refers to a human, the pronoun used is either whom or that. 

Examples 
     The man whom I saw yesterday is 99.
The man that I saw yesterday is 99.
Alternatively, the relative can be omitted, particularly in spoken language:
     The man I saw yesterday is 99.

Examples: 
Whom is not used very often: that, or omission of the relative pronoun, are much more common.
When an inanimate object is referred to, the same rules apply, except that whom is never used: it is replaced by which.

Examples 
     The book that I was reading was very interesting,  or
     The book which I was reading was very interesting,  or
     The book I was reading was very interesting
are all possible   

Omission: when it is the object of the relative clause, the relative pronoun can often be omitted, particularly in written English.

3. The relative pronoun as a possessive

Whose is required with both animate and inanimate antecedents: it is the only derivative ofwho which can refer to animates and inanimates:

Examples 
      I know someone whose sister is a nurse.
      The man whose car I borrowed is very rich.
      I chose the set whose price was reduced.

4. Relative clauses starting with a prepositon:

4.1. Note how to form relative clauses after prepositions:  preposition+which for inanimates or things, preposition + whom for people.  Stylistically, this is quite formal.

Examples 
      The man with whom I was talking was angry.
      The chair on which I sat down collapsed.    

4.2.   If the relative pronoun is omitted, then the proposition must come at the end of the clause. Omission of the relative pronoun in examples like the ones below is actually by far the most common usage in modern spoken English, and is also common in written style.

Examples 
      The man I was talking with was angry.
      The chair I sat down on collapsed.    

5. More complex structures:

Examples 
5.1 Preposition + possession:
      The player on whose skills the match most depended, was the goalkeeper.
5.2. Selective possession
      The café, most of whose customers had deserted it, had to close.
      The writer, the first of whose books had been a bestseller, was a coal miner.

6. Defining and non-defining relative clauses.

6.1. A "Defining" relative clause is one which is essential for the understanding of a statement.

Example 
   Protestors who smash windows will be arrested.

In this example, it is clear that "all protestors who smash windows" will be arrested. The word "protestors" in this example is restricted by the relative clause that defines it
 Commas are not required before and after the relative clause.

6.2. In a non-defining relative clause, the relative clause is not essential for an understanding of the sentence:

Examples 
   Protestors, who are mostly aged under 30, want to express an opinion.

In this example, the question of age is not an essential bit of information. The relative clause can be omitted without making the sentence meaningless.
     In cases like this, commas are usually required before and after the relative clause.

Compare these two examples:

Examples 
     6.1. People who eat too much tend to have poorer health.
     6.2. Sportsmen, who pay attention to their diet, are not usually over-weight.

EXERCISES