Relative clause from scratch

RELATIVE CLAUSELET’S START FROM SCRATCH

A SIMPLE SENTENCE

Look at this sentence

Malee has a kitten.

It’s a regular simple sentence

MODIFIER

What if you want to put additional information to “Malee”?

Normally, you use an adjective to modify a noun

The lovely Malee has a kitten.

MODIFIER

What if...an adjective is not enough?

For example, you want to mention that Malee lives next door to you

Can you find an adjective to describe that? [I guess not]

RELATIVE CLAUSE

That’s when a relative clause comes in handy

A relative clause is used to modify a noun

Let’s go back to our lovely Malee

I want to mention that Malee lives next door to me [= she is my neighbor]

I want to put that piece of information in the same sentence

RELATIVE CLAUSE

Malee has a kitten.

The lovely Malee has a kitten.

The lovely Malee has a kitten.

,who lives next door to me,

FROM SIMPLE TO COMPLEX SENTENCE

Here, you put additional piece of information to the same sentence

The lovely Malee has a kitten.

That clause in the pink bubble is called RELATIVE CLAUSE

,who lives next door to me,

HOW TONow that you know what a relative clause is for

Let’ study its composition

To write a correct & complete relative clause, you need

A relative pronoun

who, whom,that, which, when, where

A clause or a predicate

RELATIVE PRONOUN

WHO

Is used when you need a subject in the relative clause

Malee has a kitten. [main clause]

Malee lives next door to me. [you want to add this information]

You change the 2nd sentence into a relative clause by substituting Malee with “WHO”

WHO

Malee, who lives next door to me, has a kitten.

Relative clause

WHICH

Look at these 2 simple sentences

Charming can understand human language. [main clause]

Charming is friendly, smart, and cuddly. [you want to add this piece of information about Charming]

WHICH

To change the 2nd sentence into a relative clause, use WHICH because Charming is a kitten, not human

Charming, which is friendly, smart, and cuddly, can understand human language.

WHOSE

Is used to express possession of the noun it modifies and an item

WHOSE

Kitty loves Daniel.[main clause]

Kitty’s kitten understands human language.[add more information about Kitty]

Kitty, whose kitten understands human language, loves Daniel.

ADJACENT

A relative clause must be placed right after the noun it modifies

Charming is a member of Sanrio Club, which is a cat. >>wrong

Charming is a member of Sanrio Club, which helps promote goodwill around the world. >>correct

DEFINING VS NON-DEFININGWHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE

Give essential information about a noun it modifies

A botanist is a scientist who studies plants.

Use an identifying relative clause in definitions

Environmentalists are people who care about the environment.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE

Give extra information about a noun. The information is not essential.

Messi, who scored a hat

trick against Real Madrid, received the Best Player award.

Separate the clause between commas