Grammar : relative clauses

 

Relative clauses

A)  Different clauses

The man who invented the phone was Scottish.

→ Where is the relative clause?  What is its antecedent?   

 

→ Compare with:

“The man, who invented the phone, was Scottish.

Which difference(s) do you notice?

B)  Different pronouns

1)   Subject or object ?(=pronom sujet ou complément?)

1.  He is the man who won the war.

2.   The man whom you can see here is a genius.

3.   The problems Ø  they could not explain helped them to create things.

4.   The text which I read was on the blog.

2)   which antecedent ?

→ Complete with : who, whom, which, that ,  ⃠

a)    If the pronouns are subjects :

human antecedent	Ex: the man ________   created the first TV was a Scot too. EX2: the scientist,______ loved computers, was a hero.
non-human antecedent	EX: The picture  __________  is funny is based on stereotypes. EX2: The text, ______ is on the blog, deals with Bristish culture.

b)   if the pronouns are objects :

human antecedent	The student__________ you met is Tom. NB : The student,  ______      you saw before, is called Tom.
non-human antecedent	The text_____________ you read earlier is  an article… The document, _________ you read earlier, is an article. (non-defining)

Going further

1)  whose

Observe: Elizabeth, whose father shouldn't have been king, has been queen for a long time....
We could also write: Elizabeth has been queen for a long time:    

_________ father shouldn't have been king.

 
→ What can you infer about “whose”?

2)  , which

We have understood everything, which is great news.

→ What does  “,which” refer to?
It refers to ________________

3)  What

They said what the teacher wanted to hear.

 
→ Rephrase “what”?

They said      _____________________    the teacher wanted to hear.

 

NB: How would you translate “tout ce que”? ____________