Grammar - Clause

Week 3 - 重要基礎文法 02

By Peiling Hsia

Clause

子句

Clause1. 獨立子句 (independent clause) = 主要主句 (main claus

e)

2. 從屬子句 (dependent clause) = 附屬子句 (subordinate clause)

3. 關係子句 (relative clause) 由一個關係代名詞 (relative pronoun ： that, which, who, w

hom, whose 等 ) 所引導的附屬子句

4. 限定子句 (restrictive clause) = essential5. 非限定子句 (nonrestrictive clause) = nonessential

1.名詞子句 當主詞

What they did with the treasure remains a mystery. Whatever you want for dessert is fine with me. That you should feel this way about her came as a great surprise to us.

當受詞Juan finally revealed what he had done with the money. Her husband spent whatever she had saved over the years. I don't know what I should do next.

當介系詞受詞In fact, he wrote a book about what he had done over the years. We are interested in what he does for a living.

當主詞補語The trouble was that they had never been there before. The biggest disappointment of last season was that the women's team didn't

make it to the final four.

2.形容詞子句

My brother, who now teaches math in a small college, never liked math in high school.

The dealership that sold more cars ended up actually losing money. The Federated Bank, which was founded nearly two centuries ago, folded

during the state's economic crisis.

3.副詞子句The team had fallen behind by ten points before they were able to figure out

the opponent's defense. Since he started working nights, he doesn't see much of his kids. While Josie sat inside watching television, Gladys shoveled the driveway.

限定子句 (restrictive clause)

Jim, whom Judy met at Ken's party, called her last night. Your mother, who called yesterday, called again this morning.

Sally's beef soup, which is in the big white bowl, is too salty.

非限定子句 (nonrestrictive clause)

The person (whom) she met at Ken's party called her last night. The person who called yesterday will call again this afternoon. The soup that (which) Sally made is too salty.

限定 (restrictive) 與非限定子句 (non-restrictive)

1. Because non-restrictive adjective clauses give extra information, we "set them apart" from the main sentence by using commas.

2. Most relative pronouns (who, whom, which, whose) can be used in both restrictive and non-restrictive clauses, but “that” cannot.

“that” - used only in restrictive clauses

(X) This morning you had a call from your mom, that also called yesterday.(O) This morning you had a call from your mom, who also called yesterday.

(X) Hamburgers, that are usually made from beef, are popular in the USA.(O) Hamburgers, which are usually made from beef, are popular in the USA.

Adjective Clause 形容詞子句

Adjective clauses (relative clauses) are like "sentences inside sentences." The "job" of adjective clauses is to modify (describe, identify, make specific) the noun phrases that they follow.

Adjective clauses have several parts: a relative pronoun, a subject, and a verb.

Adjective clauses are sometimes described as dependent clauses because they make no sense by themselves: they need the words of the main sentences to which they are attached in order to show complete thoughts.

Adjective Clause 形容詞子句

In adjective clauses, the relative pronoun is a kind ofconnecting word. Without the adjective clause, the meaning of the modified noun phrase (and of the sentence) is unclear and incomplete.

Examples: I know a person who / that can help you.

I know a person who(m) / that you can help.

I know a person whose advice I can trust. I know a person to whom I can refer you.

I know a person who(m) / that I can refer you to.

I want a car that / which gets good gas mileage.I can't afford the car that / which I really want.

Types of Adjective Clauses1. "Subject Pattern" - the relative pronoun is the subject of the clause. The man who / that talked to us was very friendly. Do you know the man who / that talked to us?    

2. "Object Pattern" - the relative pronoun is the object of the clause.

The people who(m) / that we met seemed very friendly. The people to whom / that we were speaking seemed very friendly. The people who(m) / that we were speaking to seemed very friendly. I recently saw the people to whom / that we were talking. I recently saw the people who(m) / that we were talking to.   

3. Clauses Showing Possession - the relative pronoun is possessive

The people whose names are called will work the first shift. Do you know the student whose brother won a gold medal in the Olympics?

(1) Subject Pattern Clauses

The relative pronoun are the grammatical subjects of the clauses.

Examples: A man spoke to us. The man was wearing a green suit. A man who (that) was wearing a green suit spoke to us.

The new car is parked outside. The new car belongs to Bob. The new car that (which) is parked outside belongs to Bob.

More on Subject Pattern Clauses

Reductions: Clauses with BEWhen a subject-pattern adjective clause contains BE,

the relative pronoun and BE can often be omitted:

The woman who is talking to Janet is her sister.

That man who is from Sweden speaks six languages.

The skates that are beside the door belong to my brother.

The woman talking to Janet is her sister.

That man from Sweden speaks six languages.

The skates beside the door belong to my brother.

Rephrasing: Clauses with HAVEWhen an adjective clause contains HAVE (meaning

"own," "possess,“ or "is characterized by"), another

kind of change is possible:

Do you know anyone who has change for a dollar?

There's only one person who has blond hair in my class.

Do you know anyone with change for a dollar?

There's only one person with blond hair in my class.

(2) Object Pattern Clauses

The relative pronoun replaces the object of the clause.

The person called me. We met the person at Jack's party. The person who(m) (that) we met at Jack's party called me.

I enjoyed talking to the person. We met the person at Jack's party. I enjoyed talking to the person who(m) (that) we met at Jack's party.

The trip was quite interesting. I took the trip last week. The trip that (which*) I took last week was quite interesting.

I enjoyed the trip. I took the trip last week. I enjoyed the trip that (which) I took last week.

(3) Possessive Adjective Clauses

In clauses of this type, whose shows possession. It is always combined with a noun or noun phrase.

The author is Jonathan Stones. She likes the author's books best.

The author whose books she likes best is Jonathan Stones.

The people will be glad to help you. The people's names are on this list.

The people whose names are on this list will be glad to help you.

Special notes of adjective clauses

1. Adjective clauses come after the nouns that they modify:

2. The relative pronouns who and that are used to refer to people, but who is more common.   

3. The relative pronouns that and which are used to refer to things, but that is more common.   

4. The relative pronoun “that” cannot be used in

nonrestrictive clauses

When do I have to repay the money that / which I borrowed?

That / which5. There several cases when that is more appropriate than which:

(1). After the pronouns

(2). After verbs that answer the question WHAT?

(3). After “superlative degree”

(4). After ordinal numbers ( first, second, etc.)

(5). BE Verb:

6. The relative pronouns whom and that are used to refer to

people, but whom is more common. Also, whom is used mostly in writing and very formal spee

ch, but who is used for both subjects and objects in everyday conversation and casual speech.

The only difference between who in subject- and in object-pattern clauses is in word order:

(subject pattern) That's the person who was talking to us. (object pattern) That's the person whom we were talking to.

7. Adjective Clauses as Objects of Prepositions

Examples:

1. The woman is right over there. You were talking about the woman. (O) formal: The woman about whom you were talking is right over there. (O) "everyday": The woman who / that you were talking about is right over there. (O) The woman you were talking about is right over there. (X) The woman about who you were talking is right over there. (X) The woman about that you were talking is right over there.

2. The book is rather expensive. He referred to the book.

(O) formal: The book to which he referred is rather expensive. (O) "everyday": The book that / which he referred to is rather expensive. (O) The book he referred to is rather expensive. (X) The book to that he referred is rather expensive.

Omitting Relative Pronouns 關代可否省略的時機： 可省略： (1) 關係子句中已有主詞，關代不當主詞時 (2) 關代雖當主詞用，和 beV. 一起省略 I know the girl who you’re talking about. I know the girl who is next to you. That's the person who(m) / that we were talking to.

(3) 關代 + beV The student who is making a speech is Jack. My mother finally found the vase that was broken by me.

(4) 關代 + V The student who attend that school receive a good education. People who make a lot of money are not necessarily happy.

Practice:

1. ____ Bob's sister who is a nurse is named Angie.

2. ____Dr. Roberts, that teaches my physics class, was born in Germany.

3. ____ Mike Miller, a basketball player, has few fans in Taiwan.

4. ____ He broke that glass, which made his father very angry.

5. ____ I saw a boy and a dog who were playing in the park.

6. ____ The new car, that is parked outside, belongs to Bob.

7. ____ He is the kind of person that will never let you down. 8. ____ Marrying a rich man is all which she wants.

9. ____ Some people say that success is 1% of talent and 99% of hard work.

10. ____ This is the funniest story which I have ever read.

Web links:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ ( 普渡大學寫作中心 ) http://www.chineseowl.idv.tw/html/c_new.htm

(The Chinese online writing lab – 柯泰德 Ted Knoy) http://blog.udn.com/trjason

( 廖柏森 英語與翻譯教學 )