WR 210: Grammar Refresher
Assignment 11: It’s All Relative (Clauses)
A relative clause is a dependent clause that (usually) modifies another word. It allows us to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. This added information can be either essential (defining), or nonessential (nondefining). Relative clauses must contain a subject and predicate (otherwise, they wouldn’t be clauses). They are introduced by either:
• a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, which, that, whoever, whomever, whosever, whichever) or
• a relative adverb (when, where, why).
Do: Identify the relative clauses in the following sentences:
• I want whichever flavor you want.
• No attempt was made to hide the extension cords, which swung above the seats like nooses.
• Do you speak Spanish, which is a language increasingly helpful to know?
• David, whom we saw yesterday in Hamlet, is a superb actor.
• I always listen when you tell me that you love me.
• “And your speeches are long,” said Matthew Freud, the public-relations man, who is married to Elisabeth Murdoch, Rupert’s daughter. (modified, from a New Yorker Talk of the Town piece)
• “I’d like to thank everybody who ever punched or kissed me in my life. And everybody whom I ever punched or kissed.” (John Patrick Shanley, slightly corrected, in his speech accepting an Oscar for the screenplay of Moonstruck)
• “At the tea stall Mr. and Mrs. Das bickered about who should take Tina to the toilet.” (from “Interpreter of Maladies,” by Jhumpa Lahiri)
Reflect upon the mentors or personalities that have been a great influence in your life. Start by writing a few short sentences on each person. Next, try to meld some of the ideas together by adding relative clauses. (Example: Robert Torrey, who was like a surrogate father to me, inspired me to work hard. He urged me to go to Princeton, which was his alma mater.) [Show the...