.png "Relative clauses (4) –extra information clauses (1)")
a)
Look at
these sentences from the last lessons: (you can read from here).
- The woman who lives next door is very friendly.
- Elma works for company that makes typewriters.
- Have you found the keys (that) you lost?
In the above examples, the relative clauses tell us
which person or thing (or what kind of person or thing) the speaker means:
Note: but not all relative clauses are like this:
Examples:
- Hicham’s father, who is 58, goes swimming daily.
- The house at the end of street, which has been empty for two years, has just been sold.
In these examples the relative clauses (who is 58 and
which has been empty for two years) you don’t have to tell us which person or
thing the speaker means.
We already know which person or thing is meant:”Hicham’s”
and “the house at the end of the street». The relative clauses in these
sentences give us extra information about the person or thing.
b)
In these “extra
information” relative clauses you have to use who for people and which for things.
You can not use that and you can not leave out them who or which.
When you write clauses like this, you have to put
comma (,) at the beginning and at the end of the clause.
Study the following examples:
- Yesterday I met Ali, who told me he was getting married.
- Ms Ali, who has worked for the same company all his live, is retiring next month.
- He told me her address, which I wrote down on a piece of paper.
- The strike at the car factory, which lasted ten days, is now over.
Remember that we use who/which instead of
he/she/it/they:
- Last night we went to Elma’s party, which we enjoy very much. (Not “which we enjoyed it very much”)
c)
You can also
use whose or whom or where in “extra information” relative clauses:
- Hicham, whose mother is Spanish, speaks both Spanish and English fluently.
- Mr Ali is going to Paris, where his son has been living for five years.
- My brother, whom (or who) you once met, is visiting us next week.