Definition:
A
non-defining relative clause (also called non-identifying relative clauses or non-restrictive
relative clauses) provide interesting ADDITIONAL information which is
not essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence. It tells us more
about someone or something, but do not define it.
For example:
- Elephants that love mice are very unusual.
* This tells us which elephants we are talking about. - Elephants, which are large and grey, can sometimes be found in
zoos.
* This gives us some extra information about elephants - we are talking about all elephants, not just one type or group. - My sister, who lives in France, is coming to stay with me next
week.
* "who lives in France" is not essential, which means that I only have one sister and she does not need to be defined by the "relative clause")
Punctuation Correct
punctuation is essential in non-defining relative clauses. If the non-defining
relative clause occurs in the middle of a sentence, a comma is put before the
relative pronoun and at the end of the clause. If the non-defining relative
clause occurs at the end of a sentence, a comma is put before the relative
pronoun.
For example
- My friend John, who went to
the same school as me, has just written a best-selling novel.
Relative pronouns The
following relative pronouns are used in non-defining clauses:
|
Person
|
Thing
|
Place
|
|
|
Subject
|
who
|
which
|
|
|
Object
|
who/whom
|
which
|
where
|
|
Possessive
|
whose
|
Notes:
In non-defining clauses, you cannot use
"that" instead of "who", "whom" or
"which".
You cannot leave out the relative pronoun, even
when it is the object of the verb in the relative clause:
For example:
For example:
- He gave me the letter, which was in a blue envelope.
- He gave me the letter, which I read immediately.
Non-defining clauses can be introduced by
expressions like "all of", "many of" + relative pronoun:
|
|
Person
|
Thing
|
|
all of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
any of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
few of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
both of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
each of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
either of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
half of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
many of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
most of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
much of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
none of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
one of
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
|
two of etc…
|
+ whom
|
+ which
|
For example:
- There were a lot of people at the party, many of whom I had known
for years.
- He was carrying his belongings, many of which were broken.
The relative pronoun "which" at the
beginning of a non-defining relative clause, can refer to all the information
contained in the previous part of the sentence, rather than to just one word.
For example:
For example:
- Chris did really well in his exams, which was a big surprise.
* = the fact that he did well in his exams was a big surprise. - An elephant and a mouse fell in love, which is most unusual.
* = the fact that they fell in love is unusual).
Examples:
- Mrs. Jackson, who is very intelligent, lives on the corner.
- We stopped at the museum, which we’d never been into.
- I’ve just met Susan, whose husband works in London.
- I spoke to Fred, who explained the problem.
- He gave me the letter, which
was in a blue envelope. (proposición explicativa: había solo
una carta y era azul. Es necesario emplear "which")
- He gave me the letter which/that
was in a blue envelope. (proposición especificativa: había
varias cartas de distintos colores y él me dio la azul. "Which" puede
sustituirse por "that".
Las comas desaparecen.)
- He gave me the letter, which
I read immediately. (proposición explicativa: había solo una
carta. Aunque "which" es
el objeto de "read",
debe incluirse en la oración.)
- Stratford-on-Avon, which
many people have written about, is Shakespeare's birthplace. (Las
preposiciones suelen colocarse al final de la oración de relativo.)
- Stratford-on-Avon, about
which many people have written, is Shakespeare's birthplace. (En
inglés escrito formal, también es posible colocar la preposición antes del
pronombre.)
Exercise 2 - Non-defining relative clauses
Complete the sentences with whose, who, which, or where.
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario