To talk about people, places, and things we often use words called adjectives (smart, tall, nice, etc).
Today, we're going to look at another way of describing people, places, and things: relative clauses . Look at the photo and passage below.
Miki: Wow! Great photo. Who are these people, Ami?
Ami: My classmates from English school, and my new boyfriend, Francois.
Miki: Really? Is Francois the man with the big, funny hat?
Ami: Ha! Ha! No, he's the one wearing glasses and a red t-shirt. Fiona introduced us last month. The guy wearing a sombero is Gilberto.
Miki: I think I remember her: Fiona is the girl in front of Francois holding a yellow smartphone.
Ami: Yes, that's right.
Miki: It looks like you were all at a house party.
Ami: Yeah. We wanted to go to a place that wasn't smoky, where we could relax.
Relative clauses were used to talk about Ami's classmate, boyfriend, and the location of the party. They are useful phrases for describing people, places, and things (especially when they're in groups or similar to one another).
Grammar
To make relative clauses we can use:
- prepositions (in, by, next to)
- gerunds (verbs with "ing" like wearing, holding, eating, etc)
- relative pronouns: that, which, when, where, who
- the indefinite pronoun: one
Let's review one of the sentences from the dialogue:
Fiona is the girl in front of Francois holding a yellow smartphone.
If we don't use relative clauses, we would need two or more sentences.
Fiona is the girl, She's in front of Francois. She's holding a yellow smartphone.
Relative clauses help us talk about people, places, and things more accurately, and more quickly. Now, let's do a few exercises.
Exercise 1
Look at the photos. Re-write the sentences using relative clauses. The first sentences is done for you as an example. You may write the answers in the comments section.
1/
A: Which one is Suzi?
B: Suzi is the girl. She's on the left. She's wearing sunglasses. She has long, brown hair.
2/
Barbados is island. It has beautiful beaches. You can relax and watch the sunset.
3/
A: Which sweater do you like?
B: I like the sweater. It's has rainbow colours. It's between the black and pink ones.
4/
A: Which person is your boss, Maria
B: Maria is the woman. She's sitting behind the desk. She's wearing purple top and blue jeans,
Exercise 2
Complete the sentences below with:
a) the correct relative pronoun
b) a gerund
c) a preoposition
NOTE: There may be more than one correct option for some questions.
1/
Kumi is looking for a man ____ can cook
2/
Cities like Toronto, New York, and London are places ____ you'll hear the word "hello" in many languages.
3/
A: What kind of car are you looking for?
B: A sedan ____ has good gas mileage.4/
A: Is the sales manager the guy ____ a red tie ____ a glass of wine?
5/
One of my favourite neighbourhoods ___ Tokyo is Golden Gai (新宿ゴールデン街). It's a place ____ a lot of small, cozy bars. It's a place ____ there are many exclusive clubs, but, there are restaurants and drinking spots ___ serve tourists and foreign residents. Golden Gai is popular with people ____ are interested in experiences traditional, Japanese nightlife.
For more exercises, try English Media Lab's exercises:
a) People who..
b) Relative pronouns
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