RELATIVE CLAUSES- Practical activities

Join the sentences using relative pronouns or adverbs. Begin with the word in bold.
Analyse the clauses you produce.

E.g. Many other people feel important. Many experts say that charm depends on how much you do
this.

Many experts say that charm depends on the extent [to which you make other people feel
important.]

f. subordinate finite restrictive relative clause WHICH f. rel pron

F.post-modifier of the antecedent: the extent F. prep. complement

1. Nervous people forget to smile. There are various reasons for this.

2. People talk too much because they are nervous. I have seen many situations like this.

3. Two people remember different things from the same conversation. It is quite common to come
across cases like this.

4. People dread long conversations with senior colleagues at parties. There are a large number of
reasons for this.

5. Everyone can calm down after an argument. It is essential to hae a time like this.

6. How you stand or sit while you are talking is important. People often judge you unconsciously
by this.

Do the sentences below have the same meaning? Which are wrong?

E.g.

a.Guide dogs were first used by soldiers who had been blinded during World War One.

b.Guide dogs were first used by soldiers, who had been blinded during World War One.

The sentences do not have the same meaning. Sentence b is not correct. There’s a problem in the
relative clause. Since it is not all soldiers that used guide dogs, but only those who were blinded (as
sentence a. expresses) the relative clause must be restrictive. The information provided in the
relative clause is essential to identify the antecedent noun. No comma is allowed in this case.

1. a- Seals, whose blubber is used for fuel and food, are hunted by Inuits.
b- Inuits hunt seals whose blubber is used for fuel and food.
RELATIVE CLAUSES- Practical activities

2. a- The tiger shark is one of the few members of that species that attacks people.
b- Most sharks are not dangerous, but one exception is the tiger shark, which attacks
people.

3. a- The funnel spider’s web, which is extremely fine, was used to cover wounds.
b- The funnel spider’s web, that is extremely fine, was used to cover wounds.

4. a- There are 100,000 types of mollusc (snail, oyster, octopus, etc.), all of which have to
moist to stay alive.
b- There are 100,000 types of mollusc (snail, oyster, octopus, etc.), of all which have to
moist to stay alive.