Relative Clauses with Prepostions

Relative Clauses with Prepositions

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

"They're the people (who) we met yesterday!"

Defining relative clauses...

• ... contain extra information, not necessary to complete and meaningful sentence.

• ... contain optional but contrasting information.

• ... contain information necessary to a complete and meaningful sentence.

• What!? What's a clause???????

Multiple Choice

"That family, who we only met yesterday, have invited us to dinner tonight."

Non defining relative clauses...

• ... contain extra information, not necessary to a complete and meaningful sentence.

• ... contain optional but contrasting information.

• ... contain information necessary to a complete and meaningful sentence.

• What!? What's a family???????

Multiple Choice

"That shop, where you bought my nice jacket, closed down!"

• defining relative clause

• non-defining relative clause

Multiple Choice

"That's the shop where I bought your last birthday present."

• defining relative clause

• non-defining relative clause

Match

We use different relative pronouns, like 'who', to refer to different things, match the following:

• who

• where

• when

• which

• that

people

places

times

animal / thing

person / animal / thing

• people

• places

• times

• animal / thing

• person / animal / thing

Which and That​

Sometimes which and that (and who) are​ interchangeable BUT that can never be used in a NON-DEFINING relative clause, compare:

​

"I usually go to the shops which/that sell the cheapest clothes."

​

"​H&M, which is usually very cheap anyway, has a sale on this week!"

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Fill in the Blanks

Queen Elizabeth II,

sadly died last week, was probably Britain's longest serving Monarch.

Fill in the Blanks

In reality, the monarch

served the longest was probably Queen Elizabeth II.

Fill in the Blanks

Lunar New Year is a time

families gather to celebrate the new year.

​Relative Pronouns with Prepositions

In more formal writing we often use a preposition with a relative pronoun, it is less familiar and adds distance between the speaker/writer and their subject. Compare:

​

"Yes, I believe the car (which / that) they arrived in was just stolen."​

​

"Yes, I believe the car in which ​they arrived was just stolen."

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

​Relative Pronouns with Prepositions

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

• "Yes, I believe the car (which / that) they arrived in was just stolen."​

  ​

• What happens to the preposition in?​

  ​

• "Yes, I believe the car in which ​they arrived was just stolen."

• Do you think we can say "in that they arrived?"​

  ​

In fact we only ever use which and whom as relative pronouns after prepositions:​

​

"The lady to whom I was speaking earlier would like to meet you."​

​

"The school in which we were studying didn't admit boys."​

​

Whom for people, which for everything else!​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Fill in the Blanks

You try:

"The shop __ _____ she used to work actually shut down during covid."

Fill in the Blanks

"You are not the person __ _____ I was speaking."

Fill in the Blanks

Make this more formal by completing the gap:

"He had so many great ideas he didn't know which to focus on."

"He had so many great ideas he didn't know __ _____ __ _____."

Open Ended

Try changing this sentence to make it more formal:

"I didn't know which seat to sit in!

Relative Clauses and Quantifiers.

We often use relative pronouns ​with words expressing quantity, especially in more formal language:

​

"The couple, both of whom were English, barely spoke any Vietnamese." ​

​

"​The classes, all of which had at least 40 students, were very challenging to teach."

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Fill in the Blanks

"The two dogs, ____ __ _____ I'd known from birth, eventually found good homes."

Fill in the Blanks

"The students, ___ __ ____ worked very hard, passed their exams with flying colours!" (100%)

Fill in the Blanks

Let's try some different quantifiers:

"The libraries, ____ __ _____ have shut down now, were vital to the community." (70%)

Fill in the Blanks

"The attendees at the conference, ____ __ _____ had even come last year, all had a great time." (20%)

Superlatives and Other Adjectives​

Notice earlier we used 'most of whom', we can use other superlatives to qualify relative clauses as well as number of useful set phrases.

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"I spent many happy years in Italy, the best of which were with my boyfriend."​

​

"I spent many happy years in Italy, the majority of which were in Rome"​

Notice how we use the.​

Subject | Subject

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Multiple Select

"The books, _________ of which have now been banned, were removed from the school library."

Choose all correct options.

• a number

• the rudest

• a couple

• the best

Open Ended

Make your own silly relative clause sentence with prepositions!