|
Sentence Complexity and EmbeddingAdjective ClausesActivity 16.7: Types of Relative Clauses Exercise A – Read each sentence below and put an asterisk in front of the sentences that you consider ungrammatical. 1. I saw a man who was picking his nose. 1. The children who wanted to slide brought sleds. 1. I called my sister who lives in Chaska. 1. The pens which fell on the floor were new. Exercise B – Now look at the sentences you marked as ungrammatical and tell what is wrong with them. Next consider the other sentences. What does each mean? Why? Most of the ungrammatical sentences have a relative clause between commas and begin with the relative pronoun that. Other sentences containing a relative clause between commas using a wh- relative pronoun are grammatical, and sentences with a relative pronoun not surrounded by commas and using either pronoun are grammatical. The one exception is when the antecedent is the name of a person. This exercise introduces two different types of relative clauses. One type is the type set off by commas: nonrestrictive realtive clauses. The second type is the type not set off by commas: the restrictive relative clause. Restrictive relative clauses limit the antecedent in some way, but nonrestrictive relative clauses place no limits on the antecedent. |