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Relative Connectors |
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Relative clauses tell something about a noun which we call the antecedent.
That man is Kevin. He is talking to your father
= The man who is talking to your father is Kevin
antecedent └─┼───relative clause───┘
relative connector
The man is Kevin, OK, but, who is Kevin? Well, he is the person who is talking to your father. So a relative clause gives us more information about the antecedent (the man).
I’ve got a book. It’s very interesting
= I’ve got a book which is very interesting
When the antecedent is a person, we use the relative pronoun WHO. When it is a thing, we use WHICH.
The relative pronoun does two things: it is a connector and it can be the subject or the object of the relative clause (just the same function as the antecedent would do itself).
WHO and WHICH may both be replaced by THAT
The person who/that comes here first will have it
The house which/that I want is near here
When there is possession (for both people or things) we use WHOSE.
The house whose windows are broken is Tony’s
I met a girl whose name was Molly
When the antecedent is a whole sentence, we use the connector ",WHICH"
She's always smiling, which is very nice
WHAT
It means "the thing that", so the antecedent (thing) is included inside the connector
I told him what he wanted to know (=the thing that he wanted to know)
I've got what you need
Relative clauses of time, place and reason
When the antecedent is a word of time we use WHEN, when it is a word of place we use WHERE and when the antecedent is the word "the reason" we use WHY. In these three cases the antecedent can be removed.
Monday is (the day) when I don’t work
This is (the place) where I grew up
That’s (the reason) why I hate her
Gapped text | Items |
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The man ______________________ is looking at you is my brother | which / why / ,which / where / when / what / whose / who |
The girl ______________________ lives next to you works with me | when / where / whose / which / what / who / why / ,which |
The table ______________________ I bought yesterday is broken | when / ,which / which / where / who / whose / why / what |
The car ______________________ I like is very expensive | who / that / ,which / whose / what / why / when / where |
The woman ______________________ blouse is blue is the president's wife | when / what / ,which / which / why / where / whose / who |
The mountain ______________________ top is white is 2,500 metres high | when / which / whose / where / why / who / ,which / what |
I dropped all my champaign on her trousers______________________ was very embarrassing | where / whose / which / why / what / , which / when / who |
That movie is too slow and nothing happens______________________ is really boring | which / when / where / what / whose / why / , which / who |
She's always happy. That's ______________________ I like about her. | who / which / ,which / why / whose / where / what / when |
Sorry, this is not ______________________ I need | whose / when / ,which / who / which / what / why / where |
Sunday is the day ______________________ I rest | ,which / when / which / whose / why / where / what / who |
That's the house ______________________ I was born | ,which / who / where / which / why / whose / what / when |
She's very mean and evil. That's ______________________ I don't like her. | ,which / why / when / whose / who / where / which / what |
The boy ______________________ is playing over there is my nephew | that / when / why / what / which / ,which / where / whose |
The book ______________________ I'm reading now is very interesting | where / what / whose / why / ,which / that / when / who |