Part 1: Sentence and Clause Structure
Embedded Relative Clauses
AKA
Restrictive relative clauses
Defining relative clauses
Identifying adjective clauses
Examples
There were many people that he didn’t know at the party.
Trees which do not lose their leaves are called evergreens.
Students who need a hall pass must ask their teacher.
Definition
When a relative clause is embedded in a noun group, it defines, identifies, or restricts the meaning of the head noun. That is, the clause tells us which one or which ones of the head noun are indicated.
For example:
- There were many people that he didn’t know at the party. (Which people were at the party? People that he didn’t know.)
- Trees which do not lose their leaves are called evergreens. (Which trees are called evergreens? Trees which do not lose their leaves.)
- Drivers whose cars are parked illegally will be fined. (Which drivers wil be fined? Those whose cars are parked illegally.)
It is important to notice that embedded relative clauses are required to make the sentence true. If you remove an embedded clause, it often completely changes the meaning of the independent clause. Compare:
- There were many people at the party. / There were many people that he didn’t know at the party.
- Trees are called evergreens. / Trees which do not lose their leaves are called evergreens.
- Drivers will be fined. / Drivers whose cars are parked illegally will be fined.
In each of these pairs, the sentence without the relative clause has a different meaning, and one which is likely incorrect (not all trees are called evergreens; not all drivers will be fined).
Discovery
|
Yellow fever is an acute viral disease that infected mosquitoes can transmit. The “yellow” in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients. The most common symptoms that people experience include fever, muscle pain, and headache. A small proportion of patients who contract the virus develop severe symptoms. An eipdemic occurs when people that are infected introduce the virus into areas whose population has little or no immunity. Yellow fever is prevented by a vaccine which provides life-long protection from a single dose. Adapted from the WHO website. |
The underlined words are relative pronouns. What is the referent of each pronoun (that is, the noun or phrase that the pronoun replaces or refers to)? Based on your answers to Question 1, please complete these patterns: Who refers to human / non-human / both types of referent. That refers to human / non-human / both types of referent. Which refers to human / non-human / both types of referent. If you remove the relative clauses (all the words in bold), does the meaning of each sentence change substantially? |
Form
A key consideration with relative clauses is the choice of relative pronoun. As you saw in the examples, the relative pronoun replaces a participant (a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun) in the relative clause. For embedded (restrictive) relative clauses, the options depend on whether the referent (the thing the pronoun refers to) is human or non-human:
|
Type of clause |
Human referent |
Non-human referent |
|
Subject relative clause |
who, that |
which, that |
|
Object relative clause |
who, whom, that |
which, that |
|
Object-of-a-preposition relative clause |
preposition at the end: who, whom, that preposition at the start: whom (to whom, for whom) |
preposition at the end: that, which preposition at the start: which (to which, for which) |
|
Possessive relative clause |
whose |
whose |
Note that we do not use a comma before this type of relative clause. If you add a comma, you form a different clause called a non-restrictive relative clause, which we will discuss separately.
A good way to understand a sentence with a relative clause is to break it into two sentences. You should see that one participant (one noun group or pronoun) is repeated in both sentences. This is the referent noun that will be replaced with a relative pronoun. For example:
|
Type of clause |
Without a relative clause |
With a relative clause |
|
Subject |
A small proportion of patients contract the virus. These patients develop severe symptoms. |
A small proportion of patients who contract the virus develop severe symptoms.
|
|
Object |
Yellow fever is an acute viral disease. Infected mosquitoes can transmit the disease. |
Yellow fever is an acute viral disease that/which infected mosquitoes can transmit. |
|
Object-of-a-preposition |
Yellow fever is a disease. A vaccine is available for it. |
Yellow fever is a disease which/that a vaccine is available for. Yellow fever is a disease for which a vaccine is available. |
|
Possessive |
Infected people may introduce the virus into areas. The population of these areas has little or no immunity. |
Infected people may introduce the virus into areas whose population has little or no immunity. |
Careful!
The choice of pronouns for animals depends on the perspective of the speaker. If you consider animals to be more like humans, you would use human pronouns (the dog who is barking at me). If you are less fond of animals, you might use non-human pronouns (the cat which is scratching me).
Whom is considered prescriptively correct for object relative clauses and object-of-a-preposition relative clauses with human referents (the person whom I saw; the teacher to whom I spoke). However, its use sounds stilted and excessively formal in everyday spoken English and many less formal written contexts, so it is often avoided.
Some grammar books and style guides discourage the use of that for human referents or note that it is informal (e.g., a student that takes the class versus a student who takes the class). Although who is sometimes preferred, both forms are acceptable in most registers.
Function
Embedded relative clauses are frequently used in more complex texts (spoken and written) because they expand the meaning of the noun group. This means they function primarily to make nouns more specific, to add details about a topic, to define phenomena, and to “pack” more information into the noun group. This characteristic is especially common in academic writing, specifically with the key language use of Inform. Learners can use relative clauses to make their writing more specific, to write clear definitions, and to be precise in their language.
Exercises
Combine these sentences into a single sentence using a relative clause and one of the patterns discussed in this section. Make the second sentence into the relative clause.
Example: Malaria is a life-threatening disease. It is spread by some kinds of mosquitoes.
→ Malaria is a life-threatening disease which is spread by some kinds of mosquitoes.
- The infection is caused by a parasite. The parasite is only spread by mosquito bites.
- Women are at a higher risk of severe infection. These women are pregnant.
- In some areas, travelers should sleep under nets. Mosquitoes cannot fly through the nets.
- Travelers should take medicines for 2-3 weeks before departure. The travelers’ doctors recommend preventative treatment.
- A vaccine has been shown to reduce malaria among young children. The WHO recommends the vaccine.
Source: WHO Factsheet
See also
Nonrestrictive relative clauses
Reduced relative clauses
Further reading and practice
Defining relative clauses (Learning English)
