Grammar — Relative clauses
- Defining relative clauses identify a person, thing, place, etc. They provide essential information without which the sentence would be meaningless. Commas are never used.
- When the relative clause defines the subject, we must use the relative pronoun.
- Edward Hopper was a painter. He painted Nighthawks. → Edward Hopper was a painter who/that painted Nighthawks.
- When the relative clause defines the object, we may drop the relative pronoun.
- Nighthawks is a painting by Edward Hopper. I love it. → Nighthawks is a painting by Edward Hopper (which/that) I love.
- Non-defining relative clauses provide additional information about people, things, places, etc. They are separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. We don’t drop the relative pronoun.
- We use who for subjects and who/whom for objects.
- Edward Hopper, who was an American painter, lived and died in New York.
- Hopper, who/whom I admire, painted Nighthawks.
- We use which (NOT that) for things.
- Nighthawks, which was painted by Edward Hopper, is a very famous painting.
- We use which (NOT that or what) to give extra information about a complete clause.
- Hopper inspired many artists, which is really good news.
Grammar — Relative clauses: Prepositional relative phrases
- Prepositions can come either before the relative pronoun or at the end of the relative clause.
- It is less formal to put the preposition at the end. In this case, we use who/that (NOT whom) for people and which/that for things.
- Very often we drop the relative pronoun.
- That’s the painter (who/that) I told you about.
- I wasn’t sure if this was the painting (which/that) you were thinking of.
- It is more formal to put the preposition before the relative pronoun. In this case, we use whom (NOT that or who) for people and which (NOT that) for things.
- The painter to whom you are referring was Mark Rothko.
Grammar — Relative clauses: Nominal relative clauses
- What is a nominal relative pronoun meaning the thing(s) (that)/everything (that). It does not refer to a preceding noun/pronoun.
- I like what you do. NOT I like the things what you do./I like that what you do.
- Whatever is more emphatic and means anything that or no matter what.
- I’ll do whatever you want me to do. = I’ll do anything that you want me to do.
- Wherever, whoever, whenever and whichever function in a similar way.
Grammar — Relative clauses: Reduced relative clauses
- Relative clauses are sometimes shortened.
- We can use a participle instead of a relative pronoun and full verb, e.g.
- The man who sits next to Elliot is my father’s friend. = The man sitting next to Elliot is my father’s friend.
Grammar — Relative clauses: Useful phrases
- We use quantifiers such as none, some, half, many, most, both, all + of + whom/which in relative clauses.
- The potato has many uses, none of which involve drinks.
- Ninety people have died, half of whom were killed by mosquitoes.
- Other useful relative phrases are: at which point, by which time, since when, a period in which, in which case, the part where, no reason why, the reason why, the extent to which, as a result of which