|
Relative clauses in the English language are formed principally by means of relative pronouns. The basic relative pronouns are ''who'', ''which'', and ''that''; ''who'' also has the derived forms ''whom'' and ''whose''. Various grammatical rules and style guides determine which relative pronouns may be suitable in various situations, especially for formal settings. In some cases the relative pronoun may be omitted and merely implied ("This is the man () I saw", or "This is the putter he wins with"). English also uses free relative clauses, which have no antecedent and can be formed with the pronouns such as ''what'' ("I like what you've done"), and ''who'' and ''whoever''. ==Overview== The basic grammatical rules for the formation of relative clauses in English are given here.〔These rules refer to actual usage, as described in standard books on grammar, such as and Some prescriptivist style guides, such as propose additional rules concerning which relative pronouns should be used in which circumstances.〕 More details can be found in the sections below, and in the article on ''who''. #The basic relative pronouns are considered to be ''who'', ''which'' and ''that''; but see an alternative analysis of ''that'' below. #The relative pronoun comes at the very start of the relative clause unless it is preceded by a fronted preposition: "The bed ''on which'' I was lying". (In informal use it is normal to slide the preposition to the end of the clause and leave it stranded, or dangling: "The bed ''which'' I was lying ''on''"). The relative clause may start with a larger phrase containing the relative pronoun after a preposition: "The bed, ''the owner of which'' we had seen previously, ...", or "The bed, ''lying on which'' was a small cat, ..." #''who'' is used only with its antecedent referring to a person ("The man who ..."); ''which'', referring to a thing ("The flowers which ..."); ''that'', referring to either a person or thing ("The woman that ...", or "The flowers that ..."). #''that'' is used only in restrictive relative clauses, and is not preceded by a comma ("The teacher that looks worn-out", or "The car that looks worn-out"); but ''who'' and ''which'' may be used in both restrictive and non-restrictive clauses, and may or may not take a comma ("The teacher who looks worn-out", or "My teacher, who ..."), and ("The car which looks worn-out", or "My car, which ..."). In some styles of formal English, particularly American, using ''which'' in restrictive clauses is avoided where possible (see ''that'' or ''which'' below). #''whom'' is used only when its antecedent is the ''object'' of the relative clause, but ''not'' when its antecedent is the ''subject'' of a sentence or clause ("The officer nabbed the thief ''whom'' I saw")antecedent ''thief'' is the object of the relative clause; ''but not'' ("The officer nabbed the thief ''whom'' saw me")here the antecedent ''thief'' is the subject of the relative clause ("... the thief _ saw me"); ''who'' is correct here. #When a preposition in the relative clause is placed in front (fronted), only ''whom'' or ''which'' is used ("The waiter to ''whom'' I spoke", or "The putter with ''which'' she wins"), and never acceptable is ''who'' (“The waiter to ''who'' I spoke”) or ''that'' ("The putter with ''that'' she wins"). With informal style the preposition is often dangled (or stranded), not fronted, and ''who'' and ''that'' may also be used (“The mailman ''who'' I spoke to”, “The mailman ''that'' I spoke to”, as well as “The mailman ''whom'' ...”); and (“The putter ''that'' she wins with”, or “The putter ''which'' ...”), or the zero relative pronoun is frequently used (“The putter she wins with”). (See Zero relative pronoun). #When ''that'' is used in a restrictive relative clause that is not fronted by a preposition, and it is not the subject of the relative clause, it may be omitted entirely. For example: ("The dentist ''that'' I saw" or "The dentist ''that'' I spoke to") may be rendered simply ("The dentist I saw" or "The dentist I spoke to"). But any relative pronoun when used in a non-restrictive relative clause must not be omitted ("My dentist, ''who'' I saw", or "My dentist, ''who'' spoke to me"); nor when its preposition is fronted ("The dentist to ''whom'' I spoke"); nor when its antecedent is the subject of the main clause ("The dentist ''that'' saw me”, or “The dentist ''who'' saw me"). #The verb in a relative clause takes the same person (first, second, or third) and number (singular or plural) as that of the antecedent of the relative pronoun. In ("The people who were present ...") the antecedent of ''who'' is ''people'' (third person, plural), so the verb ''to be'' takes its form (''were'') for third person and plural number; in ("I, who am normally very tolerant, ...") ''who''‘s antecedent is the pronoun ''I'' (first person, singular), so the verb ''to be'' takes its form (''am'') for first person and singular number. #''whose'' indicates that the antecedent has a possessive role in the relative clause ("The man ''whose'' daughter I married"). Unlike ''who'', it can refer to things as well as persons ("I found a car ''whose'' battery was dead"). But using ''whose'' to refer to things is not common in informal English; more 'natural' is to restructure the thought ("I found a car with a dead battery"). ''Whose'' is used in both restrictive and non-restrictive clauses (“The woman ''whose'' brother was recently married ...”, or "Sally, ''whose'' brother ...") and with both fronted and stranded prepositions ("The student in ''whose'' car we arrived ...", "The student ''whose'' car we arrived in ...") or larger phrases with a preposition ("My tutor, ''some of whose'' lessons..."). #A relative clause whose antecedent is a whole propositionthat is, a matter (or person or thing) to be dealt withis formed with ''which'' ("The cake was burnt, ''which'' made me angry"); here ''which'' refers to the whole circumstance of the cake's being burnt. #A formal, though uncommon, use of ''which'' is its being a relative determiner in non-restrictive clauses ("He painted a picture of the house, ''which'' painting I later destroyed"). Here, ''which'' may refer to persons as well as things (“Yesterday, I met three men with long beards, ''which'' men I remember vividly”). ''which'' can refer to the whole clause, followed by a word that represents the ideas of the clause ("Yesterday, I met three men with long beards, ''which'' meetings I remember vividly). A preposition may be fronted in front of the relative determiner ''which'' ("Every day, he visits me at the arcade, ''from which'' fact I derive much pleasure"), as may a larger phrase containing a preposition ("He went to the park and the shopping center, ''both of which'' places ..."). #A free relative clause has no antecedent and takes the role of an argument in the main clause. When referring to people, it is formed with the pronouns ''who'', ''whom'' or ''whoever'', ''whomever'' ("I'll take who you choose", or "I'll take whom you choose", or "I'll take whoever (or whomever) you choose"). When referring to things, it is formed with the pronouns ''what'' or ''whatever'' ("What I said annoyed her") where ''what'' stands for "the thing which ..." or "that which ...". ''Whichever'' is used when referring to people or things from a known set. (These are all called compound relative pronouns.) Also, there are the determiner (adjectival) equivalents ''which'' or ''what'', or more usually, ''whichever'' or ''whatever'' ("I'll take whichever dish you choose", or "I'll take whatever dish you choose"). The words used as relative pronouns have other uses in English grammar: ''that'' can be a demonstrative or a conjunction, while ''which'', ''what'', ''who'', ''whom'' and ''whose'' can be interrogatives. For other uses of ''whoever'' etc., see ''-ever''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「English relative clauses」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|