Download relative clauses - Professor Flavia Cunha

RELATIVE CLAUSES
Syntax of the English Language
2013/2
RELATIVE CLAUSES
Air pollution is a hazard to human, plant, and animal
health as well as to physical structures.
When hiking, you should carry a map of the area
where you plan to be.
A proton is one of two kinds of particles making up
the nucleus of an atom.
RELATIVE CLAUSE
What is similar about the underlined parts of
the sentences?
All of the underlined parts work as adjectives.
The first sentence has several single-word
adjectives.
The second one contains a relative clause.
The third sentence has an adjective phrase,
which is a relative clause that has been
reduced.
RELATIVE CLAUSE
* A Relative Clause is a
subordinate clause that functions
in the same way that a singleword adjective does.
* A Relative Clause describes,
defines, modifies, or gives
information about a noun.
RELATIVE CLAUSE
Subject
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
People
Animals/things
who, that
which, that
Object
whom, that
which, that
Possessive
whose
whose
RELATIVE CLAUSE
• Relative Clauses can also begin with
these subordinators:
 when
Where
Whereby
why
RELATIVE CLAUSE
• When a Relative Clause is need to recognize a
noun, it is called a restrictive relative clause.
e.g. Of all living things, the chimpanzee has a
genetic make-up that is most similar to ours.
• When a Relative Clause gives extra
information and is not necessary to identify
the noun, commas are placed around the
relative clause. Commas are the clue that can
help you recognize some relative clauses.
e.g. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was born in NY,
was an early American feminist.
RELATIVE CLAUSE
Note: When commas are used around
a relative clause, that cannot begin
the clause.
RELATIVE CLAUSE
• Some Relative Clauses can be reduced to
adjective phrases. It can happen when the
clause has who, which, or that as its subject.
e.g. The general who led the Union Army to
victory was Ulysses S. Grant.
Reduction: The general leading the Union Army
to victory was Ulysses S. Grant.
RELATIVE CLAUSE
• To reduce a Relative Clause to ans
adjective phrase:
o Omit the subject of the clause (the
relative pronoun)
o Omit the auxiliary verbs, if there are any
o Change the verb to its –ing form
RELATIVE CLAUSE
• Note: Use the –ing form (present
participle) when the relative clause is
in the active voice. Use –ed form
(past participle) when the clause is in
the passive voice.
These rules apply to verbs in any
tense.
RELATIVE CLAUSE
• Examples:
 The technology that impacts us most is what we use
in our homes.
 The technology impacting us most is what we use in
our homes.
 Yellowstone, which was authorized by Congress in
1872, is the oldest national park in the United States.
 Yellowstone, authorized by Congress in 1872, is the
oldest national park in the U.S.
RELATIVE CLAUSE
• Some adjectives can be reduced to appositive
phrases. An appositive is a noun phrase that is
placed near another noun to define or explain it.
Appositives do not have verbs.
e.g. One application of the laser is holography,
which is the production of three-dimensional
images. (relative clause)
e.g2 One application of the laser is holography, the
production of three-dimensional images.
(appositive phrase)