Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The element in the main clause that the relative pronoun in the relative clause stands for (house in the above example) is the antecedent of that pronoun.In most cases the antecedent is a nominal (noun or noun phrase), though the pronoun can also refer to a whole proposition, as in "The train was late, which annoyed me greatly", where the antecedent of the relative pronoun which is the clause ...
English, unlike other West Germanic languages, has a zero relative pronoun (denoted below as ∅)—that is, the relative pronoun is implied and not explicitly written or spoken; it is "unvoiced". This measure is used in restrictive relative clauses (only) as an alternative to voicing that , which or who , whom , etc. in these clauses:
But when the relative clause's antecedent is a person, the English relative pronoun would be the subject of the relative clause, and the relative clause's verb is active and transitive, a relative clause is used and it begins with the relative pronoun nana: The one who me (past) sent = "the one who sent me".
The English relative words are words in English used to mark a clause, noun phrase or preposition phrase as relative. The central relative words in English include who , whom , whose , which , why , and while , as shown in the following examples, each of which has the relative clause in bold:
The English pronouns form a relatively small category of words in Modern English whose primary semantic function is that of a pro-form for a noun phrase. [1] Traditional grammars consider them to be a distinct part of speech, while most modern grammars see them as a subcategory of noun, contrasting with common and proper nouns.
Relative pronouns in English include who, whom, whose, what, which and that. They rely on an antecedent, and refer back to people or things previously mentioned: People who smoke should quit now. They are used in relative clauses. [2]: 56 Relative pronouns can also be used as complementizers.
The relative pronoun that is usually pronounced with a reduced vowel , and hence differently from the demonstrative that (see Weak and strong forms in English). If that is not the subject of the relative clause, it can be omitted ( the song I listened to yesterday ).
This means "this is the house" and also "Jack built the house". In a wh- relative, when the related item in the relative clause is the subject of the relative, there is no gap, so there is only the anaphoric relation between the relative pronoun and an element in the main clause (e.g., Jack, who built the house, is a good chap.)