Download chapter nineteen: relative pronouns

CHAPTER NINETEEN: RELATIVE PRONOUNS.
19.1 THE BASIC FORMS are "who" and "whom," used only for people; "which," used
only for things; and "that," used for both people and things.
The first pupil who can answer my next question correctly will get a lollypop.
The lady whom you saw with us was a friend of the Governor's.
The book which I was reading seems to have disappeared.
The man that was looking for you yesterday is here again.
The glass that's on the table belongs to Patrick.
19.2
DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES.
19.2.1 A "defining" relative clause is an absolutely necessary part of its sentence: if we take it
away, the sense of the sentence is no longer complete.
The songs that they sang reminded me of Ireland.
The lady who was there yesterday has left for Paris.
The man that I met this morning was very helpful.
In "defining" relative clauses, "that" is the pronoun that we use the most often, for
people just as much as for things. In such clauses, the object relative pronoun can be left out in
certain cases, but this will be looked at a little bit later, in 19.5.)
19.2.2 A "non-defining" relative clause gives you some extra information, but is not an
essential part of the sentence.
Oxford University, which is one of the oldest in the world, is made up of a number of
independent colleges.
Your friend Ramsbottom, whom I met yesterday, told me you were out of work.
In these "non-defining" clauses, you must use "who," ("whom") or "which" as your
relative pronoun. You can never use "that" in such clauses, nor can you leave out the relative
pronoun. Note that the commas, too, are an essential part of this kind of clause.
19.3 CONNECTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES do not describe their nouns, but continue the
story. As with "non-defining" clauses, they cannot be introduced by "that," and in fact they are
often a (better) alternative to a clause introduced by "and" or "but."
I told Peter, who said it wasn't his business.
The animals built a new windmill, which was also destroyed by the neighbouring
farmers.
19.4
CHOOSING THE RELATIVE PRONOUN.
19.4.1 The choice between "who" and "whom" is quite simple to make. They refer only to
people, and basically "who" is the subject form and "whom" the object form, and also the
form to use after a preposition. In fact we don't very often bother to use "whom" in modern,
spoken English, and the only place where it still absolutely must be used is after a
preposition.
That handsome young man who is standing by the counter over there is a very famous
actor.
The girl who I marry will have to be a very good cook.
That person to whom you were just speaking looks rather suspicious to me.
The girl who you are thinking about is called Daphne, isn't she?
19.4.2 As was mentioned in 19.2.1, we frequently use "that" not only for things but also for
people - but only in "defining" relative clauses. "Which" and "that" are both subject and object
forms, but only "which" can be used after a preposition.
The man that said that wants his head examining!
The papers that you want are on my desk, I think.
The racquet which my opponent used was much heavier than mine.
The matter about which we are now going to speak requires absolute discretion.
The pay-rise that we were hoping for didn't materialize.
The tables which you were working with are out of date.
19.5
LEAVING THE RELATIVE PRONOUN OUT.
19.5.1 In a "defining" relative clause, the relative pronoun can be left out if it is the direct
complement of the verb that it introduces.
The thing I liked most was the way she laughed.
The girls he dates are always very rich and beautiful!
19.5.2 Note that "that" can also be left out if the clause itself is the complement of the verb
that introduces it, as happens in clauses of an "indirect speech" type.
They said we had to leave at once.
We hope you will all have a very good time.
19.5.3 In such clauses, "that" will not be left out after the verbs "to answer," "to reply" and "to
remark," nor will it be omitted after less common verbs such as "to object" or "to retort."
They answered that we should have thought about that beforehand.
She replied that nothing more could be done about it.
They objected that they had not been informed soon enough.
I retorted that it was none of her business!
"That" will not be left out either if it is preceded by an indirect complement introduced
by a preposition, as in the following example:
I explained to her that she had no chance of passing.
They suggested to us that we should leave at once.
It is worth insisting on the fact that relative forms are left out in informal and spoken
English rather than in the formal, written language, and in case of doubt, it's safest not to leave
them out! (See also 19.5.5.)
19.5.4 In "defining" relative clauses introduced by a preposition, the most normal solution is
in fact to drop the relative pronoun, and put the preposition at the end of the clause.
The man I'm looking for has one green eye and one grey one.
The picture you're talking about was made by Fellini.
19.5.5 These considerations about leaving out the relative pronoun are important inasmuch as
style is concerned, as there are obviously various possible ways of expressing exactly the same
idea. In the following two groups of sentences, the progression each time is from the most
formally correct to the most commonly used style.
The lady about whom I was talking has just arrived.
The lady whom I was talking about ...
The lady who I was talking about ...
The lady that I was talking about ...
The lady I was talking about ...
The money for which he had been hoping finally arrived.
The money which he had been hoping for ...
The money that he had been hoping for ...
The money he had been hoping for ...
19.6
POSSESSIVE RELATIVE FORMS.
19.6.1 "Whose" is the possessive relative form that we use for people.
He is a novelist whose reputation has grown fast.
Those of you whose eyes are green should now take off your left shoe.
19.6.2 For things, there is the possessive form "of which," but it is rather heavy, and we tend
to try and avoid its use if possible.
She was reading a magazine, the cover of which fascinated me.
He was talking about his last flat, the windows of which were double-glazed.
In a case like this "whose" might occasionally be heard in conversational English, but a
better solution would be to reorganize the sentence so as to avoid the clumsy possessive
relative structure.
She was reading a magazine with a fascinating cover.
He was talking about his last flat, which had double-glazed windows.
19.7
"WHAT" AS A RELATIVE PRONOUN.
19.7.1 "What" as a relative pronoun means "the thing" or "the things."
He told me what you had done.
I couldn't understand what he was saying.
What they told us was quite amazing.
19.7.2 Note that this use of "what" is not possible after the word "all."
All (that) you are doing is making things difficult for yourself.
All that glitters is not gold.
19.8 WHICH is the relative pronoun that you must use when referring to the whole sentence
rather than just the preceding noun.
He said that he had never met her, which surprised me.
We couldn't open the door, which was most annoying.
19.9 "WHERE," "WHEN" AND "WHY" can be used to replace a preposition followed by
"which," as in the following examples:
the house in which I live / the house where I live
the year in which he died / the year when he died
the reason for which they came / the reason why they came
Note that in the second and third cases it would be quite usual to have no link at all
between the noun and the verb construction.
the year he died - the reason they came