Connective relative clauses

The pronouns are who, whom, whose, which. Commas are used as with non-defining clauses. Connective clauses do not
describe their nouns but continue the story. They are usually placed after the object of the main verb:
I told Peter, who said it wasnt his business
or after the preposition ! noun:
I threw the ball to Tom, who threw it to "nn.
They can be replaced by and#but ! he#she etc.:
I threw the ball to Tom and he threw it. . .
I told Peter, but he said . . .
$ometimes it may be difficult to say whether a clause in this position is non-defining or connective, but there is no need for
students to ma%e this distinction, as the two forms are the same. &ore e'amples of connective clauses:
(e dran% beer, which made him fat ) (e dran% beer and it made him fat.
*e went with Peter, whose car bro%e down before we were halfway there
)
*e went with Peter but his car bro%e down before we were halfway there.
*e can use one#two etc., few#several#some etc. ! of ! whom#which as shown in +,:
I bought a do-en eggs, si' of which bro%e when I dropped the bo'.
(e introduced me to his boys, one of whom offered to go with me.
The lorry crashed into a .ueue of people, several of whom had to have
hospital treatment. which can also stand for a whole clause:
The cloc% struc% thirteen, which made everyone laugh.
(e refused to do his share of the chores, which annoyed the others.
/(is refusal annoyed them.0
The rain rattled on the roof all night, which %ept us awa%e. $he was much %inder to her youngest child than she was to the
others, which made the others jealous.
12. what /relative pronoun0 and which /connective relative0
what ) the thing that#the things that:
*hat we saw astonished us )
The things that we saw astonished us.
*hen she sees what you have done she will be furious )
*hen she sees the damage that you have done she will be furious. 3e careful not to confuse the relative what with the
connective relative which. 4emember that which must refer to a word or group of words in the preceding sentence, while what
does not refer bac% to anything. The relative what is also usually the object of a verb, while the connective which is usually the
subject:
(e said he had no money, which was not true.
$ome of the roads were flooded, which made our journey more
difficult.
+5. The importance of commas in relative clauses
4emember that a defining relative clause is written without commas. 6ote how the meaning changes when commas are
inserted:
/a0 The travelers who %new about the floods too% another road.
/b0 The travelers, who %new about the floods, too% another road.
In /a0 we have a defining relative clause, which defines or limits the noun travelers. This sentence therefore tells us that only
the travelers who %new about the floods too% the other road, and implies that there were other travelers who did not %now and
who too% the flooded road.
In /b0 we have a non-defining clause, which does not define or limit the noun it follows. This sentence therefore implies that all
the travelers %new about the floods and too% the other road.
/c0 The boys who wanted to play football were disappointed when it rained.
/d0 The boys, who wanted to play football, were disappointed . . .
$entence /c0 implies that only some of the boys wanted to play football. There were presumably others who didnt mind
whether it rained or not. $entence /d0 implies that all the boys wanted to play and all were disappointed.
/e0 The wine which was in the cellar was ruined.
/f0 The wine, which was in the cellar, was ruined.
$entence /e0 implies that only some of the wine was ruined. Presumably some was %ept elsewhere and escaped damage.
$entence /f0 states that all the wine was in the cellar and ruined.
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