WEEK 7: RELATIVE CLAUSES (LSGSWE, pp. 279-291)
See also http://www.edict.com.hk/vlc/clauses/relativeclauses.htm
Relative clauses can be:
1. RESTRICTIVE (defining): they identify the intended reference of the head noun. They pinpoint
the particular head being referred to.
2. NON-RESTRICTIVE (non-defining): they add elaborating, descriptive information about a head
noun that has already been identified or is assumed to be known.
Look at the following definition by the Longman Dictionary: it tells us which or what sort of person
we are talking about:
Ex1: A swot is someone who spends too much time studying and seems to have no other
interests (in infomal British English).
In the following example the relative clause tells us what sort of children were in the hospital.
Ex2: The hospital was full of children who/that had been injured in the fighting.
Ex3: The books which/that belong in this section are labelled with a white sticker.
Look at what happens if the relative clauses are removed from these sentences.
- A swot is someone.
- The hospital was full of children.
- The books are labelled with a white sticker.
From these examples, it is clear the a restrictive relative clause is a necessary part of the clause: the
first example makes no sense at all; the second makes sense, but its meaning is unclear as we do not
know whether the children were patients or merely visitors to the hospital; the third is not a truthful
statement, as it leads us to believe that all the books have stickers, which is not the case.
A non-restrictive relative clause, on the other hand, is not necessary in the sentence, but serves to
give additional information. Non-restrictive relative clauses are usually separated by commas.
Ex4: American Airlines, which began the daily flights to Chicago less than a
year ago, accused the government of being partly to blame.
In this case it is possible to omit the relative clause and still have a perfectly acceptable, clear and
truthful sentence. In fact, the identity of the head noun is already well-known to the readers, and the
non-defining relative clause is used to add newsworthy but INCIDENTAL information about the
referent.
- American Airlines accused the government of being partly to blame.
There are three key components related to relative clauses:
1. The HEAD NOUN (the noun modified by the relative clause);
