Download relative pronouns

Stage 15
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
Please copy the declension of relative pronouns
and interrogative adjectives (identical) from
your book page 34.
Relative pronouns are used to relate to or refer
to some preceding word in a sentence. They
serve two purposes:
 Refer back to the preceding word known as
the antecedent. The relative pronoun takes the
place of the antecedent (as the function of any
pronoun is to take the place of a noun);
 Introduce a subordinate (or relative) clause.
A relative clause has a subject and a verb
separate from the subject and the verb of the
main sentence (or main clause). A main clause
can stand alone as its own sentence; a
subordinate clause cannot do so.
A relative pronoun agrees with the antecedent it
replaces in gender and number. However, its
11
Stage 15
case depends upon how it is used in its own
subordinate clause.
The English relative pronouns are expressed by
who (person), which, what, and that (things),
depending on how it is used in the sentence,
and whether the antecedent is a person or an
object. The Latin relative pronouns are the
declinable qui, quae, quod.
Relative pronouns allow us to form more
complicated sentences, by combining two
simple sentences into one without merely using
a conjunction.
Aeneas was a hero.
His descendants founded Rome.
Use of conjunction:
Aeneas was a hero and his descendants founded
Rome.
Use of relative pronoun:
Aeneas was a hero whose descendants founded
Rome.
21
Stage 15
Imagine how incredibly boring our reading and
writing would be if we could only use simple
sentences, or only sentences joined by
conjunctions!
The relative pronoun can function as the
subject, a direct object, an indirect object, an
object of a preposition, or show possession,
regardless of what the antecedent was doing.
Where are the rewards that you wanted?
Ubi sunt premia quae cupivisti?
Rewards is the subject, and the relative
pronoun, quae, referring back to it, is the direct
object.
The boy whom I saw was a friend.
Puer quem vidi erat amicus.
Boy is the subject, and the relative pronoun,
quem, referring back to it, is the direct object.
31
Stage 15
 In the first sentence, the relative
pronoun is ____________ and its
antecedent is _________. Describe its
gender _____ and its number ______.
The case of the antecedent is
_________ because it is functioning as
the __________, and the case of the
relative pronoun is ___________
because it is functioning as the
______________.
 In the second sentence, the relative
pronoun is ____________ and its
antecedent is _________. Describe its
gender _____ and its number ______.
The case of the antecedent is
_________ because it is functioning as
the __________, and the case of the
relative pronoun is ___________
because it is functioning as the
______________.
41
Stage 15
How do you know which relative pronoun to
use?
The woman who caused the Trojan War was
Helen.
1. Identify the relative clause.
who caused the war
2. Find the antecedent in the main clause.
woman
3. Determine the gender and number of the
antecedent.
femina is feminine singular
4. Determine the function (and therefore the
case) of the relative pronoun within the
relative clause.
who in its clause is the subject,
therefore it is nominative
5. Select the proper form of the relative
pronoun based on these steps.
nominative feminine singular  quae
Femina quae causam belli Troiani dedit erat
Helena.
51
Stage 15
Be careful! Very often, English omits the
relative pronoun (but the relative clause still
actually exists!!!)!
Is this the book (that) the girl read?
1. relative clause: (that) the girl read
2. antecedent: the book
3. number and gender of antecedent: book is
masculine singular
4. function of (that) within the relative
clause: direct object  accusative
5. select: accusative masculine singular 
quem
Estne liber quem puella legit?
 When you use the ablative of accompaniment
with a relative pronoun, the cum is joined to
the end of the pronoun.
Estne puellam quācum amulabas?
Is that the girl with whom you were walking?
61