This PowerPoint was used to review a reading assignment and to discuss relative clauses. The reading passage was about different types of aptitude, so the quote from Albert Einstein was used to open up a discussion of the reading material. Sentences taken from the reading passage were used to illustrate and explain the structure of relative clauses, as presented in the students’ grammar text. This was an effective way to incorporate the reading material and a grammar lesson into one class.
Relative Clauses P Ch. 6 ENL 207
Sentence Structure Consider each of these sentences from “What is Intelligence, Anyway?” What type of sentences are they? Pay attention to the underlined words. I received a kind of aptitude test that all soldiers took. I am very good at answering the type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers. In a world where I could not use my academic training, …. I would do poorly. My intelligence… is a function of the society I live in. These all have ADJECTIVE / RELATIVE CLAUSES
What is a relative clause? Relative clauses, also known as adjective clauses, are dependent clauses that give information to describe nouns or pronouns. They begin with a relative pronoun, such as that, which, who, whom, where, or when.
Consider this example: I am very good at answering the type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers In this sentence, that is a relative pronoun. It is relative because it relates back to a noun (or noun phrase) previously mentioned in the sentence – this is called the antecedent. The function of this clause is to describe the noun phrase “the type of academic questions.”It tells us more about which type.
Consider this example: You can think of relative clauses as combining two sentences to make your writing more complex and interesting. I am very good at answering the type of academic questions. The type of academic questions are considered worthy of answers. To join these sentences with a relative clause, delete the repeated noun and replace it with a relative pronoun at the beginning of the clause.
Consider this example: You can think of relative clauses as combining two sentences to make your writing more complex and interesting. I am very good at answering the type of academic questions. The type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers. To join these sentences with a relative clause, delete the repeated noun and replace it with a relative pronoun at the beginning of the clause.
Consider this example: You can think of relative clauses as combining two sentences to make your writing more complex and interesting. I am very good at answering the type of academic questions. The type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers. To join these sentences with a relative clause, delete the repeated noun and replace it with a relative pronoun at the beginning of the clause. Then insert the relative clause into the first sentence, placing it directly after the original noun.
Consider this example: You can think of relative clauses as combining two sentences to make your writing more complex and interesting. I am very good at answering the type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers. To join these sentences with a relative clause, delete the repeated noun and replace it with a relative pronoun at the beginning of the clause.
Subject Relative Clauses In many relative clauses, the relative pronoun replaces the subject. This is true in the example we just looked at. I am very good at answering the type of academic questions. The type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers. I am very good at answering the type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers. In subject relative clauses, we can use the relative pronouns who, which, and that.
Which pronoun should I use? Use who only when referring to people. Use which and that when referring to things. Use which for information that is additional. My favorite movie, which is amazing, is about . Use that for information that is necessary. The book that was translated last year was very interesting. Also note: commas are used with optional relative clauses, but not with necessary clauses.
Object Relative Clauses In some relative clauses, the relative pronoun replaces the object of the clause instead of the subject. Consider this example: I received a kind of aptitude test that all soldiers took. When we break this down into two sentences, we see that that replaces the object of the clause: I received a kind of aptitude test. All the soldiers took a kind of aptitude test.
Object Relative Clauses To form an object relative clause, delete the second repeated noun and replace it with one of the object relative pronouns: whom, which, or that. (Note that who is also used, but only informally.) Even though the noun is the object in the original clause, it should be placed at the beginning of the relative clause: I received a kind of aptitude test. All the soldiers took a kind of aptitude test. I received a kind of aptitude test that all the soldiers took.
Which pronoun should I use? The same rules for subject relative pronoun use are also true for object pronoun use, with two additions: who is only used informally as an object pronoun. that can be dropped from necessary object relative clauses: The book that I read yesterday was very interesting. The book __ I read yesterday was very interesting.
Relative adverbs Relative clauses can also be used with when or where to provide additional information about a time or place. For example: In a world where I could not use my academic training, …. I would do poorly. In this case, the two separate clauses would be: In a world . . . I would do poorly. I could not use my academic training in a world. We use where at the beginning of the relative clause to replace the second “in a world”.
Practice Read the paragraph on pp. 128-129 of P . Find two examples of relative clauses.
Make a list of holidays Religious Non-religious
Write sentences Choose one of the holidays from our list. Write several sentences to define the holiday you choose. Use at least 5 relative clauses: Two subject relative clauses Two object relative clauses One adverb clause
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