Clauses

CLAUSES
A clause is a part of a sentence that must contain a subject and a verb. Its function is to complete the meaning of the sentence.
Example:
Juan Miguel...........likes........the girl.
(Subject)...........(Verb).......(Comp.)
The sentence is complete grammatically because it has a subject, a verb and a complement; but its meaning is not complete because you don’t know who the girl is and you will ask which girl? Or
Who is the girl?
So we will use a clause to identify the girl.
Juan Miguel likes the girl who is sitting behind Eliana
(Independent clause) (Dependent clause)

This is an adjective clause because its function is to identify/modify a noun in the sentence (the girl).
According to its function clauses can be:
Adjective clauses
Adverb clauses
Noun clauses

NOUN CLAUSES,
A noun clause is a clause that has the function and occupies the same position as any normal noun in a sentence.

An advantage of having an older brother is (that) you always have somebody to help you.
.........................................................(Complement)

That you always have somebody to help you is an advantage of having an older brother.
.................(Subject)

The word that in noun clauses after BE is optional. You can omit it.



Relative Clauses, Also known as adjective clauses.

There are various ways of supplying more information about a noun in English. Frequently we use adjectives
e.g.:
a helpful teacher

and often other nouns
e.g.:
a university teacher.

Relative clauses or adjective clauses are another very common way of supplying more specific information about a noun referring to a person, thing or group,
e.g.:

The teacher who looked after our class today doesn’t normally work here.

The flowers that I bought yesterday have already died.

The book which she is referring to is no longer published.

In the examples the relative clauses are highlighted.

As the examples show, relative clauses are most commonly positioned immediately after the noun that they refer to, and often begin with a relative pronoun such as who, that or which.
Who is used to refer to people,
which is used to refer to things,
and that is used to refer to people or things.

Relative pronouns do not have masculine, feminine or plural forms. A relative pronoun, like who or that, can be used to refer to a man, a woman or a group of people,
e.g.:
I met a woman/man who lives near your sister.

Do you know the young boy/girl that offered you a seat?

They were the builders who fitted our kitchen.

Relative clauses can also be used after some pronouns. They are quite common after indefinite pronouns such as something, someone, anything, anyone, everything and everyone,
e.g.:

Anna is someone that I really admire.
Is there anyone who knows how this machine works?
Everyone who has worked with her will miss her very much.

When we talk about people we use who or that if the sentence is defining or identifying.
Eg:
The boy who/that is sitting next to Brianda is Scarlet's boyfriend.

We use which or that for things when the sentence is defining or identifying.
Eg:
The window which /that is behind Enrique is made of a special glass.
Eg:


We use where when we are trying to identify a place.
Eg:
The restaurant where Carlos alberto eats cebiche is in San Isidro.

We use when when we are trying to identify a moment or time.
Eg:
The moment when Miriam learned the news she fainted.

We use why when we are trying to identify a reason.
Eg:
Mr.Oaks doesn’t do his class work. That is the reason why he has such bad grades.

We use whose when we are trying to identify somebody or something by the possessions.
Eg:
That’s the woman whose dog bit Grecia


Relative clauses are also sometimes used after words like some, many, much, all, or those which can function as pronouns,
e.g.:
Like many who were taking the exam, I felt very nervous.
A small bar of chocolate was all that we had to eat.

Defining and non-defining clauses
Defining clauses: also called indentifying clauses are clauses that are necessary to identify a noun in the sentence and usually are immediately after the nouns they modify.
Eg:
Shirley's father is talking to the man who mistreated her yesterday.

We use the clause to identify which man Shirley’s father is talking to and the relative pronoun (who) is next to the noun (the man) that is identifying.


Non-defining clauses. also called non-identifying clauses, are clauses that are not necessary to identify any noun in a sentence. They only give extra information.
Eg:
Marc Anthony, who is a friend of Marlene's, plays a lot in class.

This sentence can be written:
Marc anthony plays a lot in class. The clause "who is a friend of Marlene's" is just extra information.

When the clause is non-defining we cannot use "that". We can only use who or whom for people and which for things.



What is the difference between who and whom?We use who when the relative pronoun is acting as the subject in the relative clause.
Eg:
The boy who is talking to Karina is a university student.

The relative clause is who (the boy) is talking to Karina. In this clause,
- who is doing the action of talking the boy or Karina?
- The boy, So who is acting as the subject in this clause.

We use whom when there is another subject in the clause and the relative pronoun is acting as the object of the clause.
Eg:
The girl whom Sebastian is talking to is a third grade student.
The relative clause is whom Sebastian is talking to (the girl). In this clause
- who is doing the action Sebastian or the girl?
- Sebastian, so the girl is receiving the action and not doing it. The relative pronoun whom is referring to the girl.

We also use whom after prepositions.
Eg:
The boy to whom Ana Paula is sending the letter lives in Florida.

2. Relative pronouns as subjects and objectsA relative pronoun can act as the subject or object of the verb in a relative clause, compare:

She’s the only person who offered to help. (Who is subject)

She’s the only person who Janice offered to help. (Who is object)

When a relative pronoun is functioning as the subject of the verb in a relative clause and is referring back to a person or people, the relative pronouns who or that are used,
e.g.:
I paid the man that delivered the flowers.
I met a woman who knows your sister.
I didn’t trust the builders who fitted our new kitchen.

When the relative pronoun acts as subject and refers to a person, the relative pronoun who is used more frequently than the relative pronoun that.

When a relative pronoun is functioning as the subject of the verb in a relative clause and refers back to a thing or things, the relative pronouns which or that are used,
e.g.:

I’ve bought a new oven that comes on automatically.
There are systems which are much more reliable.

When a relative pronoun is functioning as the object of the verb in a relative clause and refers back to a person or people, the relative pronouns who, that or whom are used, or the relative pronoun is left out altogether (this last case is sometimes technically referred to as a zero relative pronoun),
e.g.:
They were a group of college friends who I hadn’t seen for several years.
I’m afraid Annabel is someone that I really dislike.
He was a distant cousin whom she had never met.
Did you know the woman ( ) you were chatting to in the park? (zero relative pronoun)



Whom is rather formal and is only used in written English and formal spoken English. The relative pronoun who is often used instead. However if the relative pronoun occurs immediately after a preposition (see also section 3 below), whom must be used,
e.g.:
* the man with who she lived (incorrect)
the man with whom she lived.

Most people tend to avoid this however by using who and placing the preposition at the end of the clause, i.e:
the man who she lived with

Note that as a general rule, when the relative pronoun refers back to a person and is functioning as object of the verb in the relative clause, the relative pronoun that and the zero relative pronoun are more common in informal contexts than the relative pronoun who. So the following examples are also likely:
the man that she lived with
the man she lived with

When a relative pronoun is functioning as the object of the verb in a relative clause and refers back to a thing or things, the relative pronouns which or that are used, or the relative pronoun is left out altogether (zero relative pronoun),
e.g.:
On the dining room wall was a photograph which my sister had taken.
This is the kind of flour that we usually use.
You could put the stones ( ) you’ve collected into that bucket. (Zero relative pronoun)

Note that if a relative pronoun occurs immediately after words such as much, all, little and none functioning as pronouns, that is used and not which,
e.g.
There wasn’t much that they could do to help.
These ruins are all that remain.

3. Prepositions in relative clauses

The relative pronouns which and whom can function as the object of a preposition, as illustrated by examples such as:

the room in which we are standing
an achievement of which I am very proud
the man with whom she lives
the article to which he is referring

However this use sounds rather formal and it is much more common to place the preposition towards the end of the clause rather than before the relative pronoun, as in
e.g.:
the room which we are standing in
an achievement which I am very proud of
the man who she lives with
the article which he is referring to

and very often the relative pronoun is left out altogether, as in
e.g.:
the room ( ) we are standing in
an achievement ( ) I am very proud of
the man ( ) she lives with
the article ( ) he is referring to

Note that if the verb in the relative clause is a phrasal verb which ends with a preposition, this preposition can never be placed in front of the relative pronouns which or whom,
e.g.:
* This is just something with which I have to put up. (Not correct)
This is just something which I have to put up with. (correct)

If the relative pronoun is functioning as the indirect object of the verb in the relative clause, the prepositions to or for are used,
e.g.:
The girl (who/that) I lent my jacket to
the person (who/that) I poured a drink for


REDUCTION OF CLAUSES
Clauses can be reduced by eliminating the relative pronoun and a verb “BE” only when the subjects of the two clauses in a complex sentence are the same person or thing..

Example,
My computer crashed when it was printing the first page.
1 2
As you can see the subject in clause 1 is my computer and the subject in clause 2 is “it” which is the same thing. When this happens we can eliminate one of the two subjects the relative pronoun and the verb “BE”. The main verb in this clause has to be in the present participle (verb+ing) because it is an active voice sentence. Using this type of reduction indicates that the two actions happened at the same time.

My computer crashed printing the first page (We eliminate When, It, Was)


When two actions happen at different moments in time, we use the following construction :
Having + past participle
Example
Mr. Grapevine grew up listening to the music of Village People. Then he started to play similar songs.

Having grown up listening to the music of Village People, Mr. Grapevine started to play similar songs.


How to Use a Relative Clause
Use relative clauses to provide extra information. This information can either define something (defining clause), or provide unnecessary, but interesting, added information (non-defining clause).

Relative clauses can be introduced by:

•a relative pronoun: who (whom), which, that, whose
•no relative pronoun, .
•where, why and when instead of a relative pronoun

You need to consider the following when deciding which relative pronoun to use:

•Is the subject or object or possessive of a relative clause?
•Does it refer to a person or an object?
•Is the relative clause a defining or non-defining relative clause?

NOTE: Relative clauses are often used in both spoken and written English. There is a tendency to use non-defining relative clauses mostly in written, rather than in spoken, English.
MSR/mbs