Chp 18: Relative Clauses

How do nonrestrictive relative clauses function?

A nonrestrictive relative clause functions to add information about the noun it modifies, which is why it is surrounded by commas or pauses, rather than identifying the noun as restrictive relative clauses do.

What is uniques about a possessive relative clause introduced by whose?

A possessive relative clause introduce by whose is used especially, but not exclusively, when the possessor is human or animate. They are formed from using apostrophe S to indicate possession.

What are possessive relative clauses?

A possessive relative clause is one of the six types of restrictive relative clauses. In a possessive relative clause, the relative pronoun whose replaces an element that indicates possession.

How do restrictive relative clauses function?

A restrictive relative clause functions to identify the noun it modifies.

What is a subject relative clause?

A subject relative clauses is one of the six types of restrictive relative clauses. In a subject relative clause, the relative pronouns. who. that. or which. replace the subject of the clause.

What are adverbial relative clauses?

Adverbial relative clauses are introduced by where, when, and why rather than by relative pronouns. They follow nouns that denote a place (where), a time (when), or a purpose (why).

For example. That's the gas station where I'm working now. How well I remember the day when he was born. I've forgotten the reason why the trust fun was established.

Adverbial relative clauses have a equivalent in which the modified noun is followed by an object of preposition relative clause.

Which relative pronouns are used in nonrestrictive relative clauses?

All of them except that, which means who, whom, whose, and which. Or all of the relative pronouns beginning with W.

There are not any restrictions with an object relative clause. For example. The sentence. We just met that woman who Alan likes so much. becomes. We just met that woman Alan likes so much.

Also, there are not any restrictions with an object of comparison relative clause. For example. the sentence. the sports car which the Corvette was faster than won the Le Mans race. Becomes. The sports car the Corvette was faster than won the Le Mans race.

Is there anywhere or any distance which is unallowable for an extraposed restrictive clause to be moved?

An extraposed restrictive clause cannot be moved into a position following a noun it does not modify, because this is the originating position for restrictive clauses and it will appear as if it is modifying the unintended noun, changing the meaning of the sentence.

What is an indefinite Free relative Clause?

An indefinite free relative clause is introduced by who or whomever, whichever, whatever, whenever, or whenever.

What is an indirect object relative clause?

An indirect object relative clause is one of the six types of restrictive relative clauses. In an indirect object relative clause, the relative pronouns who. whom. that. or which. replace the indirect object of the clause that follows the preposition to or for.

What is an object of comparison relative clause?

An object of comparison relative clause is one of the six types of restrictive relative clauses. In an object of comparison relative clause, the relative pronouns who. whom. that. or which. replace the noun phrase following the comparative conjunction. than.

What is an object of the preposition relative clause?

An object of the preposition relative clause is one of the six types of restrictive relative clauses. In an object of the preposition relative clause, the relative pronouns who. whom. that. or which. replace the object of the preposition in the clause.

What is an object relative clause?

An object relative clause is one of the six types of restrictive relative clauses. In an object relative clause, the relative pronouns who. whom. that. or which. replace the object of the clause.

For example. Joan dances with whoever asks her to dance. Joan dances if someone asks her to dance with him.

Another example. Fred eats whatever Alice offers him. Regardless of what Alice offers him, Fred eats it.

Which nouns can relative clauses modify?

Any noun in the main clause.

Why are two there types of possessive relative clauses?

Because there are two ways to show possession. When apostrophe S is used and fronted, the resulting relative pronoun is whose. When the preposition of is used and fronted, the resulting relative pronoun is of which.

This is not possible with subject relative pronouns since the relative pronoun and subject are one and the same, and deleting the relative pronoun means deleting the subject, not leaving one behind to begin the clause.

Clauses without a subject relative pronoun are sometimes said to have a zero relative pronoun. Although this is possible with 5 types of relative clauses, there are some restrictions.

What are definite free relative clauses?

Definite free relative clauses stand alone, rather than following a modifying a head noun, and are introduced by a wh- word, such as what, where, or when. For example. Mark eats what he wants.

What are extraposed relative clauses?

Extraposed relative clauses are relative clauses that do not appear directly after the head noun they modify. Rather they are placed farther away.

Where can an extraposed relative clause be placed?

Extraposed relative clauses can be separated from the head noun they modify by a single word, such as an adverb or main verb.

Test number three. Definite free relative clauses beginning with where must be replaceable with a locative phrase. and Definite free relative clauses beginning with when must be replaceable with a time phrase.

For example. Bob stayed where Julie wanted to stay. Bob stayed at the Marriott. The word. where. is replaceable with a locative phrase, such as at the Marriott. So this is a definite free relative clause that begins with where.

Test number two. If the clause is a definite free relative, then the word the phrase "that thing which" can be substituted for the word what.

For example. Sally order what Jim chose. Sally order that thing which Jim choose. This works, so it is a definite free relative clause.

For example. Here is a chair to sit on. Here is a chair on which to sit. This example is is similar to object of preposition relative clauses.

For example. Susan is the ideal person to talk to about that. Susan is the ideal person for you to talk to about that. This example is similar to object relatives, and shows that it is possible for infinitival relative clauses to have subjects, which follow the preposition for.

There is a further restriction in possessive relative clauses. Reduction can only happen in clauses that begin with. of which and strand the preposition.

For example. The sentence. The reports which the government prescribes the size of are boring. becomes the reports the government prescribes the size of are boring.

There are restrictions, however, with indirect object, object of preposition, and possessive relative clauses. In these three clauses, reduction by omission of non subject relative pronouns can only occur if the preposition is stranded at the end of the clause.

For example. The sentence. The student who the dean sent a message to is out of town. becomes the student the dean sent a message to is out of town.

What are free relative clauses?

Free relative clauses stand alone, rather than following and modifying a head noun.

How can relative clauses be taught or practiced?

Give students pictures from magazines and have them describe the pictures using relative clauses. Teach students how to form complex sentences, then give them simple sentences form which to construct complex sentences.

For example. Usually they give you a thing. You know, a thing that you don't want it. In this example, the original relative clause was. you don't want a thing. The object. a thing. was replaced with the relative pronoun. that. and fronted to make the clause. that you don't want.

However, a pronoun was also inserted into the place from which the object was fronted. so the clause becomes. that you don't want it.

For example. That's the gas station at which I'm working now. How will I remember the day on which he was born.

I've forgotten the reason for which the trust fund was established.

It is optional for infinitival relative clauses to have subjects. If the subject is included, it must follow the preposition for.

If the subject is not included, then it is assumed that the subject is people in general.

Number seven. nonrestrictive relative clauses can modify an entire sentence and not just a noun. For example. Susan is afraid of dogs, which doesn't surprise me at all.

In brief. nonrestrictive relative clauses are set off by commas in writing and pauses and falling intonation in speech. They can modify proper nouns or entire sentences. And they cannot be stacked, introduced by that, or modify any, every, no + noun, or indefinite articles.

What is omission of non subject relative pronouns?

In object, indirect object, object of proposition, object of comparison, and possessive relative clauses, it is possible to delete the relative pronoun so the clause now begins with the clauses' s subject.

As with indirect object relative clauses, there are two patterns for object of the preposition relative clauses. The preposition can be fronted or left at the end. For example. The boy with whom she went skiing is my brother. or. The boy she went skiing with is my brother.

In these examples, the original clause was. she went skiing with the boy. The object of the preposition is. the boy. Through wh-movement, this is fronted as either. with whom. or just "who", which left the preposition in its original position.

There are two possible patterns for indirect object relative clauses. For example. The girl to whom we sent the e-mail lives in Seattle. Or. The girl who we sent the e-mail to lives in Seattle.

In these examples, the original clause was. we sent the e-mail to the girl. "The girl" was the indirect object. So via wh-movment, it was moved to the front as either "to whom." or just "who", which left the preposition in its original position.

For example. The sentence. The bill that was passed by congress was vetoed. becomes. The bill passed by congress was vetoed.

In this example, a subject relative clause has been reduced by deleting the relative pronoun. that. and be verb. was. leaving the past participle. passed. followed by the prepositional phrase. by congress.

For example. The sentence. He's someone who is familiar with the details. becomes. He's someone familiar with the details.

In this example, a subject relative clause has been reduced by deleting the relative pronoun. who. and be verb. is. leaving the adjective. familiar. followed by the prepositional phrase. with the details.

For example. The sentence. The guy who is standing next to Fred is a famous poet. becomes. They guy standing next to Fred is a famous poet.

In this example, a subject relative clause has been reduced by deleting the relative pronoun. who. and be verb. is. leaving the present participle. standing. followed by a prepositional phrase. next to Fred.

For example. At the party, there were many people whom he did not know.

In this example, the object of the relative clause was. "many people." as in he did not know many people. The object "many people was replaced, through wh-movement, with the relative pronoun whom. As in. there were many people whom he did not know.

For example. Last week I met a girl whose brother works in your law firm.

In this example, the original clause was. the girl's brother works in your law firm. Possessive element, the girl's. was replaced by whose and fronted via wh-movment to form the clause. who brother works in your law firm.

For example. The guy who hired Robert was the manager of the supermarket.

In this example, the subject of the relative clause was. the guy. It was replaced through who-movement with the relative pronoun. who. So instead of. The guy. the guy hired Robert. was the manager. It became. The guy. who hired Robert. was the manager.

Pattern 3. The entire object noun phrase may be fronted after the object of the preposition is replaced with the relative pronoun which. For example. The reports the size of which the government prescribes are boring.

In this example. The original clause was. the government prescribes the size of the reports. the object of the preposition. the reports. was replaced with the relative pronoun which, and the entire object noun phrase was fronted. the size of which.

For example. The sports car which the Corvette was faster than was a Porsche.

In this example. the original clause was. the corvette was faster than the Porsche. The noun phrase following than. that is. The Porsche. is fronted through wh-movement as the relative pronoun which to create the clause. which the Corvette was faster than.

What is another name for an indefinite free relative clause and why?

Indefinite free relative clauses are also known as conditional free relative clauses because the introductory word can be paraphrased with the word if or regardless of.

What are infinitival restrictive relative clauses?

Infinitival restrictive relative clauses have a verb in its infinitive form and are not introduced by relative pronouns. They are considered to have undergone relative pronoun deletion. But they have corresponding sentences that do contain relative pronouns.

Is reduction possible in nonrestrictive relative clauses?

No.

What do relative clauses modify?

Nouns

What are the seven characteristics that distinguish nonrestrictive relative clauses from restrictive relative clauses?

Number one. in writing, nonrestrictive relative clauses are set off by commas. For example. My sister, who lives in Canada, is a biologist.

Number five. nonrestrictive relative clauses cannot be introduced by that. For example. the plan, that we discussed yesterday, will be adopted. This is incorrect. It should be. The plan, which we discussed yesterday, will be adopted.

Number six. nonrestrictive relative clauses cannot be stacked. For example, you cannot say. They gave the job to Rob, who is very qualified, who starts next month.

Number two. Japanese speakers may use "which" instead of a preposition + which or the corresponding relative adverbs where or when. This is possibly because Japanese doesn't have relative pronouns and has a tendency for ellipsis in relative clauses.

Number three. Chinese speakers may omit the relative pronoun in subject relative clauses because that is their L1 pattern.

Number two. In speech, nonrestrictive relative clauses are set off by pauses and falling intonation at the end of the clause. For example. My sister, who lives in Canada, in a biologist.

Number three. nonrestrictive relative clauses can modify proper nouns. For example. John, who is a lawyer, was not impressed with Professor Scott's arguments.

In the following example, and adverb. yesterday. separates the head noun. someone. from the extraposed relative clause. I saw someone yesterday who I hadn't seen for years.

Or. In the following example, and main verb. happened. separates the head noun. something. from the extraposed relative clause. Something happened that I can't really talk about.

Another example. Let ABC be a triangle whose sides are of equal length. The original clause was. the triangle's sides are equal length. The possessive element. the triangle's. was replaced with whose.

Or. The author one of whose last three books Peter has reviewed is very famous. The original clause was. one of the author's last three books Peter has reviewed. The possessive element, the author's. was replaced by whose to form the clause. one of whose...

Pattern 1. The relative pronoun is fronted alone, leaving the preposition stranded at the end of the clause. For example. The reports which the government prescribes the size of are boring.

Pattern 2. The preposition and relative pronoun are both fronted. For example. The reports of which the government prescribes the size are boring.

What is unique about possessive relative clauses introduced by. of which?

Possessive relative clauses introduced by of which are used with inanimate possessors. They are formed from using the preposition of. to show possession. There are three possible patterns when. of which. is part of an object noun phrase.

What are the two types of possessive relative clauses?

Possessive relative clauses introduced by whose. and possessive relative clauses introduce by which.

What is potentially a special type of reduced relative clause?

Postnominal modifiers with stative verbs in present participle forms might be a special type of reduced relative clause. For example. A shark weighing over 400 pounds washed upon the beach.

Why do native speakers create extraposed relative clauses?

Proposed explanations include moving the clause into the position of new information where it gets more attention, or moving a lengthy, center-embedded clause to the end so it doesn't violate the end weight principle.

When are relative clauses taught?

Relative clauses are taught at the intermediate level.

How are restrictive relative clauses classified?

Restrictive relative clauses are classified by the grammatical function of their relative pronoun.

How are resumptive pronouns used in relative clauses?

Resumptive pronouns are pronouns that are inappropriately used in a clause along with a relative pronoun and occur in the position the relative pronoun came from.

Are there differences between spoken and written relative clauses?

Sometimes spoken relative clauses include two other possibilities, using what as a relative pronoun and resumptive pronouns.

How is what used as a relative pronoun?

Sometimes what is used as a relative pronoun as an alternative for that or which in nonstandard dialects. For example. And you see that truck what just went by.

For example. The people who take the course who Dana like usually come from local high schools. Another example. The book that I like which everyone else in class hates was written by Joan Didion.

Stacked relative clauses modify the same noun. Also, native speakers typically do not stack more than two relative clauses at a time.

What is stacking?

Stacking is when relative clauses are strung together, one clause after another. This occurs more frequently in conversation.

Can subject restrictive relative clauses ever be reduced?

Subject restrictive relative clauses can be reduced by deleting both the relative pronoun AND a following form of the verb be, leaving either a present participle, a past participle, or an adjective followed by a preposition phrase.

What are the three tests to determine if a clause is a definite free relative clause, as opposed to other structures that begin with wh- words?

Test number one. Verbs that are followed by definite free relatives beginning with what must be capable of being followed by nonhuman noun phrases.

What is the relative pronoun that used for?

That is used as a relative pronoun for humans and inanimate things.

What is the relative pronoun whose used for?

That is used as the possessive form of a relative pronoun for humans and inanimate things.

For example. The movie. we saw the movie. was really scary. The movie. that we saw. was really scary.

The noun phrase. "the movie." was replaced with the relative pronoun. "that." and moved to the front of the clause, which follows the noun the clause modifies.

What are the relative pronouns?

The relative pronouns are that. which. who. whom. whose.

What are the two types of free relative clauses?

The two types of free relative clauses are definite and indefinite free relative clauses.

What are the two types of relative clauses?

The two types of relative clauses are restrictive and nonrestrictive.

For example. Sally ordered what Jim chose. Sally ordered a hamburger. Sally ordered a piece of pie.

The verb. ordered. is capable of being following by a nonhuman noun phrase. such as hamburger or pie. so this is a definite free relative clause that begins with what.

Another example. The president applauded when the poet concluded. The president applauded at 8:00.

The word. when. is replaceable with a time phrase, such as at 8:00. So this is a definite free relative clause that begins with when.

How many classifications of restrictive relative clause are there s?

There are six classifications of restrictive relative clauses.

How many forms of possessive relative clauses are there?

There are two types of possessive relative clauses.

For example. The boys, some of whom were not more than 10 years old, stood silently in a long line. Or. The planes, a few of which seemed to be too old to fly, were parked on the side of the runway.

This fact supports the observation that relative clauses with many words preceding the relative pronoun will usually be viewed as nonrestrictive.

What are other types of restrictive relative clauses besides subject, object, indirect object, object of preposition, object of comparison, and possessive?

Three other types of restrictive relative clauses are infinitival, adverbial, and definite or indefinite free relative clauses.

How are relative clauses formed?

Through wh-movement.

What is wh-movement?

Wh-movement moves a noun phrase corresponding to the modified noun to the front of the clause and replaces it - that is the noun phrase - with an appropriate relative pronoun.

For example. A pole that must have been nine feet tall fell on a workman. versus. A pole fell on a workman that must have been nine feet tall.

Which is nine feet tall? the pole or the workman?

What is the relative pronoun which used for?

Which is used as a relative pronoun for inanimate things.

What are the relative pronouns who and whom used for?

Who and whom are used as relative pronouns for humans.

Extraposed relative clauses can also be separated from the head nouns they modify by one or more phrases. In the following example, the head noun. A girl. is separated from the extraposed relative clause by a verb phrase. is studying.

and a prepositional phrase, with me. A girl is study with me who has an IQ of 200.

What are three problems that learners have with relative clauses?

number one. Some languages use a resumptive pronoun to mark a relative clause rather than a relative pronoun. Speakers of these languages. such as Farsi, Turkish, and Arabic. frequently insert resumptive pronouns into English relative clauses.

How are relative clauses unlike adjectives?

relative clauses are clauses not words. And relative clauses follow the noun they modify.

How are relative clauses like adjectives?

relative clauses both modify nouns.

Number four. nonrestrictive relative clauses cannot modify any, every, or no + a noun. They cannot modify indefinite pronouns, such as anyone, everyone. For example. Any man, who goes back on his word, is no friend of mine. This doesn't work because then the

sentence means any man isn't a friend of mine. since the nonrestrictive relative clause is simply adding information and can be removed from the sentence. and is not restrictively defining the noun which would mandate the clause without possible removal.

What are the six classification of restrictive relative clauses?

the six classifications of restrictive relative clauses are subject, object, indirect object, object of the preposition, object of comparison, and possessive.

Can words precede the relative pronoun and still be considered part of the nonrestrictive relative clause?

yes. It is quite common for several words, such as a quantifier + of, to precede the relative pronoun of center-embedded nonrestrictive relative clauses.