Download Chapter 28

Relative Clauses
Relative clauses
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What is a clause?
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Must have a subject and verb
Can be a main (independent) clause
Can be a subordinate (dependent) clause
All relative clauses are subordinate clauses
What is a relative?
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Someone/something that has a connection to
someone/something else
A relative clause is connected to the noun that
precedes it (called an antecedent)
Acts as an adjective to describe the antecedent
Relative clause
English Example
Suppose you heard a friend say,
“I like a girl.”
That’s a sentence, a complete thought, with a subject
and verb. However, it leaves you wanting more
information about the girl.
So, your friend could say,
“I like a smart girl.” or “I like the funny girl.”
Smart and funny are adjectives modifying the girl.
He could also say,
“I like the girl who sits under the tree.”
Now you have girl modified by a relative clause and
know that your friend likes Cornelia!
Notice that who sits under the tree has a subject and a
verb making it a clause, but cannot stand alone making
it subordinate.
Relative clause
English Example
I like the girl who sits under the tree.
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Girl is the noun that immediately precedes the relative clause,
so she is the antecedent.
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Relative clauses begin with a relative pronoun (unless the
pronoun is the object of a preposition), in this case who.
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Since relative clauses act as adjectives modifying the
antecedent, they must agree: relative pronouns agree with
the antecedent in gender AND number, in this case: feminine
singular.
The cases of the antecedent and the relative pronoun are
determined by their uses in their own clauses:
I like the girl (girl is the direct object of like) accusative
who sits under the tree (who is the subject of sits)
nominative
Relative pronouns
translate:
who-people, which-things, that-either
Singular
Masc. Fem.
Neut.
qui
quae
quod
cuius
cuius
cuius
cui
cui
cui
quem
quam
quod
quo
qua
quo
Remember in Latin
People are either masculine
or feminine
Plural
Masc. Fem.
Neut.
qui
quae
quae
quorum quarum quorum
quibus quibus quibus
quos
quas
quae
quibus quibus quibus
Things can be
masculine (carrus-cart),
feminine (arbor-tree), or
neuter (plaustrumwagon)
Relative Clause
Latin Example
I like the girl who sits under the tree.
I like the girl
A simple sentence easily translated into Latin:
Ego amo puellam
puellam=acc. (direct object) sing. fem.
who sits under the tree.
We need to choose a sing. fem. Latin relative pronoun to agree with
puellam, but what case? Sometimes it is difficult to determine the
case of the relative pronoun. However, who is a pronoun taking place
of a noun in this clause. If I exchanged who with Cornelia
Cornelia sits under the tree. One could easily see that Cornelia is the
subject of that clause. So we must choose nom. sing. fem. relative
pronoun
quae sub arbore sedet.
Ego amo puellam quae sub arbore sedet.