Complex Sentences: Relative Clauses and Reported Speech, Dispense di Lingua Inglese

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B2 Blended Module

Liz McIlvanney

Lesson 8

Complex sentences

1 Relative clauses

2 Reported (indirect) speech

IELTS Grammar Unit 20 and Unit 15

The relative pronouns

• (^) who refers to people: The girl who lives next door
• (^) which refers to things, ideas etc: The film which had the best reviews
• (^) whose indicates ‘possession’ There’s the man whose dog bit me. (= his dog bit me) His wife, whose name is Claudette, is French. (= her name is...)
• (^) when , where and why refer to time, place and reason That was the year when I got married. That’s the house where he lives now. That’s the reason why I married her.
• (^) whom can be used as the object pronoun instead of who , but is very formal She’s the woman whom I met. (= the woman who I met) Ms James, whom I met last week, is the new manager.

Prepositions with relative

pronouns

• (^) The normal position for a preposition is at

the end of the sentence

He’s the man who I was talking to.

That’s the house which he went to live in.

Compare the more formal style

He’s the man to whom I was talking.

Note : after a preposition, we MUST use whom ; who

is NOT correct.

That’s the house in which he went to live.

Differences between the two types of relative clause

• (^) that can be used instead of who/which in DEFINING clauses (but NOT in non-defining clauses) This is the book that won the prize. That’s the woman that wrote it.
• (^) The pronoun can be omitted in DEFINING clauses when it refers to the object of the sentence This is the book (that) she gave me. That’s the woman (who) I told you about.
• (^) Commas MUST be used in NON-DEFINING clauses The novel, which has sold thousands of copies, is the author’s first book. The novel sold well, which pleased the author.

2 Reported (indirect) speech

• (^) To report the words someone says, there are 3 basic reporting

verbs:

say - tell (for statements)

“I know your name,” he said

= He said that he knew my name.

ask (for questions)

“What time is it?” he asked

= He asked me what time it was

• (^) Note the difference between say and tell

He says he’s French.

He told me he’s French.

He told a lie. / He told me a lie.

(tell needs an object – direct or indirect or both)

Statements (affirmative or

negative)

• (^) The normal pattern is reporting verb + that + noun clause She told me that she needed some help. He said that he would probably arrive late.
• (^) Note: that is not necessary and is often omitted She said she was sorry.

Requests and instructions

• (^) When we report requests we use ask , and the pattern is ask someone to do / not to do something “Can you close the door?” she said = She asked me to close the door
• (^) When we report orders or instructions we use tell , and the pattern is tell someone to do / not to do something “Don’t be late!” he said = He told me not to be late

Other changes Time expressions and pronouns may also change

Other reporting verb patterns

• (^) Very often we report the essence of what someone says, not their actual words, using a more specific reporting verb

“I’ll give you a hand, if you like.”

= He promised to help.

“Don’t forget the meeting tomorrow.”

= She reminded me about the meeting

“ I’m really sorry – I’ve broken it.”

= He apologised for breaking it.

The main verbs used in this way need to be studied for their grammatical behaviour and are listed in Unit 15 of the textbook on page 126.