ADJECTIVAL

RELATIVE CLAUSES
ENGLISH SYNTAX I
FACULTAD DE FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS UNT
Part I
 Relative Clauses

Relative Type of dependent clause that is introduced by a relative item: a relative

clause determiner, a relative pronoun or a relative adverb.
(What I want) is a friend (that stands by me in times (when I need support)).
He constantly tries to give a hand to those (who are in urgent need).

There are two classes of relative clauses:

a) Nominal Relative Clauses
They are introduced by a wh-element: (what(ever), who(ever), which(ever), where, when, etc)
They can function as S, Od, Oi, Cs, Co.
(What we need) is a plan.
I really like (what she wrote).
Send it to (whoever is in charge).
December is (when we take our last exam).
You can call me (whatever you like).
 Relative Clauses
b) Adjectival Relative Clauses:
Adjectival Relative Clauses are introduced by Relative Pronouns, also called ‘relativizers’:
who, whom, which, that, whose or Ø.
The Relative Pronoun or relativizer relates back to a preceding noun or pronoun, which is
called the ‘antecedent’.
Adjectival Relative Clauses are adjectival in the sense that they behave like adjectives,
postmodifying a noun, pronoun or nominal adjective.
Adjectival relative clauses are subordinate clauses that describe, identify, or give further
information about a noun.
The people who owned the hotel were very friendly. [It identifies which people]
I had a meal that was delicious. [It describes the meal]
Our waiter, who kept forgetting things, was very apologetic. [It adds extra information]
 Round up

An adjectival relative clause:

 Is introduced by a relative pronoun.

 It is a group of words related to a noun (or a pronoun).

 It comes immediately after the noun it refers to.

 It functions as post modifier of a NP. It will always be part of the S, O or C.

 Classes of Adjectival Relative Clauses

There are two structural classes of adjectival relative clauses.

Finite They have their own subject and a finite verb form.
I know a person (who will do the job quickly).
Is this the dress (that she liked)?

-ing participle clauses

The girl (sitting under the tree) is my daughter.
A lady (wearing sunglasses) will be waiting for you.
-ed participle clauses
Non Finite He criticized the remarks (made by the chairman).
The only car (repaired by that mechanic) was mine.
to-infinitive clauses
The last person (to leave) will have to turn out the lights.
Which was the first country (to win the Football World Cup)?
 Restrictive and Non-restrictive Relative Clauses

According to meaning, there are two classes of adjectival relative clauses.

1. Restrictive, defining or identifying relative clause
It is never preceded by a comma in writing.
It limits or restricts its antecedent to a particular selected type.
It provides essential information about the noun it is describing.
It is essential to the meaning of the sentence.
if it is omitted from the sentence, the sentence does not make sense or the meaning changes
significantly.
The girl who lives next door is now in England. [The relative clause tells us which girl is meant.]
A player who is injured has to leave the field. [The relative clause tells us what kind of players is meant.]
Julia broke the watch I received as a present on my birthday.
 Restrictive and Non-restrictive Relative Clauses

2. Non-restrictive, non-defining or non-identifying relative clause

It provides additional information about the noun, but this information is not essential .
It is always preceded by a comma in writing.

Ann, (who is keen on reading), lives in Sidney.

[The relative clause adds additional information which is not essential to identify Ann.]

The printer, (which I bought two months ago), doesn’t work.

[The relative clause gives additional information which is not essential to identify the antecedent.]
 NON-RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

They must be enclosed within commas. They are not enclosed in this way.
The relative pronoun cannot be omitted: The relative pronoun is regularly omitted except
Frank, who knows the city, will show you the when it is the subject of a verb:
sights. The flower you are looking at is an orchid.
Relative pronouns 'which', 'whose' and 'whom' . 'which', 'whose' and 'whom’
‘that'’ is not used in non-restrictive clauses. The pronoun ‘that’ is only found in restrictive
clauses.

The preposition governing the relative is rarely The preposition governing the relative is best
placed at the end of the clause: placed at the end of the clause and the relative
This is Mr. Jones, about whom I spoke to you. pronoun can be omitted:
This is the man I spoke to you about.
 Differences in meaning between Restrictive and
Non-restrictive Relative Clauses

• Take into account the rules mentioned before to see the difference in the use of the relative
clauses below:
1. a) The wine which was in the cellar was ruined.
[A restrictive relative clause implies that only some of the wine was ruined. Presumably
some was kept elsewhere and escaped damage.]

b) The wine, which was in the cellar, was ruined.

[A non-restrictive relative clause implies that all the wine was in the cellar and ruined.]
 Differences in meaning between Restrictive and
Non-restrictive Relative Clauses
2. a) My brother who lives in Bs As is a lawyer.
[One of my brothers lives in Bs As. This brother is a lawyer.]
A restrictive relative clause indicates that I have two or more brothers.
b) My brother, who lives in Bs As, is a lawyer.
[My brother is a lawyer. He lives in Bs As.]
A non-restrictive relative clause indicates either that I have only one brother or that the reference
is to a brother to whom there has been a recent reference.

3. a) The government which promises to cut taxes will be popular.

This sentence refers to any government which may come to power in the future.
b) The government, which promises to cut taxes, will be popular.
This sentence is making a statement about the popularity of the government that is actually in
power at the moment.
 Relative Pronouns

1. wh-items: who, whom, whose, which 2. that and zero Ø

• They do not display person or number contrast, but they have gender agreement with their antecedent.

Personal Gender Non Personal Gender Personal and Non-personal

who which that
whom whose
Ø
• With ‘who’ and ‘whom’ there is case distinction, subjective and objective respectively, within the
relative clause.
The woman who greeted me is my boss. (Subjective)
The woman (whom I greeted) is my boss. (Objective)
The woman to whom I spoke is my boss. (Objective)
 Relative Pronouns

• ‘Who’ is used with a personal antecedent.

• When it refers to the subject it cannot be omitted.
The cyclist who won the Tour of France trained hard.
• ‘Who’ is often preferred to ‘that’ when it is subject and when the antecedent
Who
is personal [people who visit me]; but ‘that’ is preferred to ‘who(m)’ when it
is object [people that I visit].
• When the verb in the relative clause is ‘be’, the complement pronoun must
be ‘that’ or ‘zero’.
Frank is not the student (that) he was.
 Relative Pronouns
• ‘That’ is only used in restrictive clauses.
• It is regularly used to refer to both things and people. It cannot be omitted when it
is a subject pronoun.
• ‘That’ is regularly preferred as an object pronoun to ‘which’ and ‘who(m)’, if it is
expressed at all:
That
The man (that) I met yesterday is my lawyer.
The book (that) I am reading is very interesting.
• ‘That’ cannot be used as the object of a preposition. But if the preposition is
placed at the end of the clause its use is normal:
This is the book about which I was speaking.
This is the book (that) I was speaking about.
 Relative Pronouns

‘That’ after certain words and constructions

• ‘That’ is normally used after words like only, it is, much, few, little, none, no, all, some, any (and
their compounds) and superlatives.
Is he the only candidate that applied for the post? You may keep any that you find.
It is the manager that decides what to do. There is little (that) you can do to help him.

• ‘Who’ is used after all, any, and a few when they refer to people:
We wish to thank all who contributed to the success of the project.
Can there be any who believes her stories?
The exam was difficult for those few who did not understand the teacher’s explanations.
 Relative Pronouns

• ‘That’ is preferred to ‘Who’ after an interrogative:

Who that understands music could say his playing was good?
Who that speaks Spanish can translate this text?

Double relatives

We normally find the wh-form for the second of two relatives.

Andrew is the only person (that) I’ve ever met who could do it.
The talk show I watched every evening and which I found interesting is no longer on TV.