8/11/2019 Coordinating & Suboordinating Conjunctions and Relative Clauses Primer

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Coordinating and subordinating conjunctions (as an intro to relative clauses)

A clauseis a structure that has at least one subject and one finite verb linked together in subject

verb agreement. If clause can stand aloneindependent clause(e.g. Louise brings her lunch.);

if cannotdependent clause (e.g. Louise brings her lunch whenever she has to attend a noon

presentation).

coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS) can be used to join two independent clauses(e.g. John

is British, andSue is Mexican.) Examples of coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or,

Yet, So

subordinating conjunctions can be used to join an independent clause and adependent clause.

A subordinating conjunction introduces a specific type of dependent clause called anadverb

clause(e.g. Louise brings her lunch whenever she has to attend a noon presentation).

Examples of subordinating conjunctions: so that, because, after, before, when, while, although,

where, unless Adverb Clause Movement Test: If a clause can be moved to the beginning of

a sentence, then that clause is an adverb that modifies the verb [e.g. Beforethe movie even

started, I had finished my popcorn. vs. *AndSue is Mexican, John is British (coordinating

conjunction) or, vs. *That you told me about, I finally read the book. (relative pronoun)]

relative pronouns can also (i.e. in addition to subordinating conjunctions) be used to join an

independent clause and adependent clause. A relative pronoun introduces a specific type of

dependent clause called an adjective (relative) clause(e.g. I finally read the book thatyou toldme about.)

Examples of relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, that, whichAdjective Clause 3rd

-person

pronoun Test: If a noun anda following clause can both be replaced by a single 3rd

-person

pronoun, then that clause must be an adjective (relative) clause modifying that noun [e.g. I

finally read the book thatyou told me about. I finally read it. ]

8/11/2019 Coordinating & Suboordinating Conjunctions and Relative Clauses Primer

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Relative (Adjective) Clauses

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A clauseis a structure that has at least one subject and one finite verb linked together in subject

verb agreement. If clause can stand aloneindependent clause(e.g. Sue lives in Tokyo); if

cannotdependent clause (e.g. Tokyo, where Sue lives, is a big city). Relative (adjective)

clausesare a subset of dependentclauses.

2. Relative pronoun: a special group of pronouns that begin relative (adjective) clauses: who (used

for people), whom, whose, which (used for things), that (used for people and things), where,

when

3. Relative (adjective) clause: always modify the nouns they follow (e.g. The answer that we

received was not very satisfactory). If the clause significantly restricts and redefinesthe

meaning of the noun it modifiesrestrictive (defining) relative clause; never set-off with

commas (e.g. We bought the rug that was on sale). If the clause does not significantly define or

alter the identity of the noun it modifies but instead gives additional (but non-defining) infoabout the nounnonrestrictive (non-defining) relative clause; always set-off with commas

(e.g. My father, who was born in Ireland, came to Canada as a child.) More examples, see Azar,

p. 73

4.

who vs. whichvs. that

whoused for people(e.g.1 I thanked the woman whohelped me.)

which used for things(e.g.2 The book whichis on the tableis mine.)

that used for people and things(e.g.3 I thanked the woman that helped me.no

difference in meaning from e.g. 1; e.g.4 The book that is on the table is mine.no difference

in meaning from e.g. 2)

5.

Relative pronouns can function as subject or object

As subject of the relative clause: e.g. I thanked the woman who helped me.

As object of a verb in the relative clause (Note that when the relative pronoun functions as an

objectin a restrictive (defining, no commas) relative clause, it may be omittedas in e.g.3 &6):

e.g.1 The man who(m) I sawwas Mr. Jones. (who(m)people)

e.g.2 The man that I saw was Mr. Jones. (thatpeople and things)

e.g.3 The man I sawwas Mr. Jones

e.g.4 The movie which we saw last nightwasnt very good. (whichthings)

e.g.5 The movie that we saw last nightwasnt very good. (thatpeople and things)

e.g.6 The movie we saw last nightwasnt very good.