which who

1
Relative Clauses

• which? who?

2
Which is better?

• Which sentence is true?
• Pubs in the UK, which banned smoking, are now
  very popular.
• 2. Pubs in the UK which banned smoking are now
  very popular.

3
Which is true?

• 1. Milk, which contains chemicals, is dangerous.
• 2. Milk which contains chemicals is dangerous.

4
Who on earth is William Shakespeare?

• 1. William Shakespeare, who is one of the most
  famous British writers, died on his birthday.
• 2. William Shakespeare who is one of the most
  famous British writers died on his birthday.

5
Who is the Queen?

• Is the information in the middle of the sentence
  necessary? Which sentence is correct?
• 1. Queen Elizabeth ll, who lives at Buckingham
  Palace, is expected to live to a very old age,
  like her mother.
• 2. Queen Elizabeth ll who lives at Buckingham
  Palace is
• expected to live to a very old age, like her
  mother.

6
Exercises

• Which of these sentences is correct?
• 1 a) Everest which is the highest mountain in
  the world was not climbed until 1953.
• b) Everest, which is the highest mountain in
  the world, was not climbed until 1953.
• 2 a) We need someone who can read Chinese.
• b) We need someone, who can read Chinese.

7
Exercises, continued

• 3 a) Could you let us know the dates, which
  would suit you best?
• b) Could you let us know the dates which
  would suit you best?
• 4 a) The girls who worked hard were given a
  bonus.
• b) The girls, who worked hard, were given a
  bonus.
• 5 a) We got in through the window, which
  somebody had left open.
• b) We got in through the window which
  somebody had left open.
• (Adapted from Coe,1983)

8
Defining relative clauses No commas

• A defining relative clause identifies which
  person or thing we mean exactly.
• You cannot leave information in defining relative
  clauses out of a sentence
• Its the book that I read yesterday.
• Its the book. (this sentence is incomplete)
• You can omit the pronoun in these clauses if it
  is the OBJECT
• Its the book I read yesterday.

9
Non-defining relative clauses with commas

• This kind of clause gives additional information
  about a person or thing.
• The sentence still makes sense without the
  non-defining relative clause
• The lectures, which I dont enjoy, last for an
  hour.
• The lectures last for an hour.
• (Adapted from Prodromou,1999)

10
Summary
Non-Defining Extra information The new Woody
Allen film, which I saw last week, is very good.
Defining Essential information Youre the man
(that) I saw last week.

• Use commas
• Always use relative pronouns,
• e.g. who/whom (people) which (things)

• No commas
• Can omit pronoun if it is the OBJECT of the verb
  in the relative clause
• That can replace which/who (infml)

11
Relative AdverbsTime

• Time
• That was the year when/that I got my MA. (The
  year in which...)
• 11 September 2001 was the day when/that peoples
  attitude towards terrorism changed. (The day on
  which...)
• The adverb (when) can be omitted.
• (adapted from Foley Hall20030

12
Relative Adverbs Place

• Place in/on/at which or in/on/that that
• Thats the factory where they make chemicals.
  (The factory in which...)
• Thats the spot where the battle took place. (The
  spot on which...)
• The adverb (where) cannot generally be omitted.

13
Relative Adverbs Reason

• Reason
• I will explain the reasons why the outbreak
  occurred. (I will explain the reason for
  which...)
• The adverb (why) can be omitted.
• (Adapted from Prodromou,1999)

14
Formal/Informal

• Non-Defining relative clauses (i.e. with commas)
  are more common in written English because they
  are quite heavy and formal.
• In spoken English we would probably use two
  sentences.
• Compare
• Kjellens article, which was published in 2004,
  sheds some light on the matter of participatory
  observation. written
• with
• Kjellens article is good. It came out in 2004.
  spoken

15
Formal/Informal - prepositions and relative
clauses

• Which is more formal of these sentences?
• 1. The people to whom the questionnaire was given
  were randomly selected.
• or
• 2. The people the questionnaire was given to were
  randomly selected.
• Preposition before rel. pronoun more formal
• Preposition at end of clause less formal

16
Exercise

• Make these sentences more formal
• The house Shakespeare lived in is in Stratford
  upon Avon.
• No one knows who Guy Fawkes revealed the plot to.
• The village we went to to do our research was
  without water or electricity.
• The people we worked with were cooperative and
  informative.

17
Exercise

• Students enter Masters Programmes may face a
  number of problems.
• May was angry that she had been given a book to
  read it was out of print.
• A fellow student saw this felt sorry for May and
  offered her his own book.
• The tutor gave the student a book, the book was
  written 20 years ago.
• Experts all agree that dreams cause great anxiety
  and stress are called nightmares.
• There are other authorities who consider any
  dream is sad and upsetting to be a nightmare.
• Adapted from elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eap/relativecl
  auses.htm

18
References

• CILL available from http//elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill
  /eap/relativeclauses.htm (accessed 20/01/2007)
• Coe, N et al (1983) Writing Skills. Cambridge,
  CUP
• Foley,M D.Hall (2003) Advanced Learners
  Grammar. Harlow, Longman
• MET 1995 Vol 4 No 4
• Prodromou, L (1999) Grammar and Vocabulary for
  First Certificate. Harlow, Longman