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Relative Clause
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HalfEmptyHero



Joined: 16 Feb 2009
Posts: 342
Location: Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound

Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 5:12 am    Post subject: Relative Clause  

Relative Clause

A relative clause is a type of dependent clause and is similar in use to the appositive. Where the appositive uses a noun phrase to modify another noun phrase, a relative clause uses a clause. A relative clause can be either restrictive or nonrestrictive, with the restrictive being necessary to convey the meaning of the sentence. It is usually introduced using either that or who/whom/whose. Take this sentence as an example:

The type of book that I want is red.

The relative clause in this sentence is that I want. If it were to be removed, the sentence The type of book is red would be left, which does not mean the same thing. In some cases that is not mandatory, and can be left out if desired.

The song he sung was very beautiful (he sung)

I like men who wear big hats. (who wear big hats)

Nonrestrictive relative clauses are not needed to convey the meaning and can be removed if desired. They are usually represented by either which or who/whom/whose, and are enclosed in commas.

The janitor, who used to play soccer, is a very good worker (who used to play soccer)

The computer, which was made in 1997, was very slow (which was made in 1997)

In the two sentences above, the relative clauses could be removed and the meaning of the sentence would not be obscured.

The janitor is a good worker.

The computer was very slow.
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Smee



Joined: 16 Oct 2004
Posts: 5215
Location: UK

Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 6:08 am    Post subject:  

Hmmmm...

In the example :

"I like men who wear big hats." (who wear big hats)

Couldn't the relative clause alternatively be 'men who wear', leaving behind "I like big hats"?
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HalfEmptyHero



Joined: 16 Feb 2009
Posts: 342
Location: Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound

Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 6:23 am    Post subject:  

I don't believe so. While it is true that both ways can make a complete sentence, who wear big hats is the relative clause as it is preceded by and linked by the relative preposition who. The fact that I like men and I like hats are both complete sentences is unrelated to identifying the relative clause.

Hopefully that makes sense, I did just get off a 10 hour shift :D
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Guest






Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:21 am    Post subject:  

Quote: A relative clause is a type of dependent clause and is similar in use to the appositive. Where the appositive uses a noun phrase to modify another noun phrase, a relative clause uses a clause. A relative clause can be either restrictive or nonrestrictive, with the restrictive being necessary to convey the meaning of the sentence. It is usually introduced using either that or who/whom/whose

Could you explain to me what is a "Clause"? These manaul needs to be written as if your talking to a dummy. :D So, anyone up for the taking?
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HalfEmptyHero



Joined: 16 Feb 2009
Posts: 342
Location: Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound

Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:31 am    Post subject:  

I'm working on it :-o This was actually not meant to be an actual lesson, I was simply trying to create a list of grammatical terms and their meanings. Unfortunately there is no proper order for these terms to be learned in, and often times one grammatical term is embedded in the definition of another. Patience needs to be had in the beginning, as until the list grows more things like this are going to be happening often.

So long as you can provide an adequate explanation and can follow the same formatting as I did, I would be very grateful to anyone willing to help with these grammar terms. I tend to be very busy with work during the week, and cannot put as much time as I would like. One definition is all I can spare per day, until the weekend comes.
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Loki000



Joined: 22 Dec 2014
Posts: 1

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2014 4:00 am    Post subject:  

The janitor is a good worker.
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