Grammar I Graciela Palacio

IES en Lenguas Vivas “J. R. Fernandez” August 2005

Universidad de Belgrano

LESSON 22
NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

2) NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES:

1. In speech, they have a separate intonation contour.
2. In spelling, they are separated by commas.
3. In meaning, they add an idea to the already defined antecedent. They are not essential for
the identification of the antecedent but they add to the meaning of the sentence.
4. We will say that they function as modifiers to the already defined antecedent, non-
restrictive modifiers. They are not complements.
5. Quirk et al (1985) discuss them under the heading of post-modification since they make the
distinction between restrictive and nonrestrictive modification discussed above, but then they
go on to say that the loose nonrestrictive relationship is often semantically indistinguishable
from coordination (with or without conjunction) or adverbial subordination, and they provide
the following paraphrases:

Then he met Barbara, who invited him to a party.

Then he met Barbara, and she invited him to a party.

Here is Ronald Walker, who(m) I mentioned the other day.

Here is Ronald Walker; I mentioned him the other day.

He got lost on Snowdon, which was enveloped in fog.

He got lost on Snowdon, when it was enveloped in fog.

He got lost on Snowdon, which he was exploring.

He got lost on Snowdon, while he was exploring it.

In the first two examples the clause seems to be semantically equivalent to a coordinate
clause. In the other two they seem to be semantically equivalent to adverbial adjuncts of
time, introduced by the subordinating conjunctions of time when and while.

Here we will adopt the following approach: the function of the non-defining will be
(post)modifier (in opposition to complement) but we will distinguish different semantic
relations:

1) If the clause can be reduced to a noun phrase in apposition, we will say that the semantic
relation is one of apposition, e.g.:

John Smith, who is the president of the company, will be at the meeting tomorrow.

John Smith, the president of the company, will be at the meeting tomorrow.

Notice that in the reduced clause the missing elements are the relative pronoun who and the
verb be.

1
2) In those cases in which the clause cannot be reduced to a noun phrase in apposition, we
will have to resort to paraphrase. If we can paraphrase the clause by means of an adverbial
clause of some kind, we will say that the clause is semantically equivalent to an adverbial
clause. The following sentence, for example,

John, who broke the window, will have to pay for it.

can be paraphrased by means of an adverbial clause of reason:

John will have to pay for the window because he broke it.

Notice that I'm not saying that the clause who broke the window is an adverbial clause, it is
semantically equivalent to an adverbial clause. Non-defining relative clauses are not very
common in speech but occur quite frequently in the written language. When we speak we tend
to use simple sentences but when we write we can choose where and how to place the
information that we want to convey. The information that in speech would most probably be
expressed by an adverbial clause may, in writing, appear in the form of a non-defining relative
clause.

Consider the two examples given above:

He got lost on Snowdon, which was enveloped in fog.

Paraphrase: He got lost on Snowdon, when it was enveloped in fog.

He got lost on Snowdon, which he was exploring.

Paraphrase: He got lost on Snowdon, while he was exploring it.

The non-defining relative clauses are semantically equivalent to adverbial clauses of time,
introduced by the subordinating conjunctions of time when and while.

3) The third possibility is for the clause to be semantically equivalent to a coordinate

clause. In this case we can paraphrase the clause by means of and, e.g.:

Then he met Barbara, who invited him to a party.

Paraphrase: Then he met Barbara, and she invited him to a party.

He has to work on Sundays, which he doesn't like.

Paraphrase: He has to work on Sundays and this he doesn't like.

The last example is an instance of a special type of non-defining relative clause called
Sentential Relative Clause, which we will discuss presently. All sentential relative clauses
are semantically equivalent to coordinate clauses.

5) As was said above the non-defining relative clause is not very common in speech, but
occurs quite frequently in the written language. The reason is that in speech we tend to use
simple sentences, and the non-defining relative is a deliberate inclusion of unnecessary

2
decoration within the sentence. It is a mere parenthesis, a casual aside or reminder to the
listener or reader, sometimes it is marked off by means of dashes or placed in parentheses:

This boy, (who lives in the next street), broke a window in the school yesterday.
This window - which was broken by a boy yesterday - will have to be repaired.

Instead of a non-defining relative clause, separate or coordinate sentences are usually

preferred in spoken English. Compare:

My brother-in-law is a mining engineer. He's in Canada now.

My brother-in-law, who is a mining engineer, is in Canada now.

6) Non-defining relative clauses are introduced by non-defining relative pronouns,

adjectives or adverbs.

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE PRONOUNS:

The gardener's wife, who has been married for ten years, has just had her ninth baby.
Her father, who has been to Paris, has just returned.
Oxford University, which is one of the oldest in the world, has many different
colleges.
My sister, whom you met yesterday, wants to speak to you.
Mary, to whom you lent your favourite books, wants to invite us to her birthday party.
Mr. Green, who gives me piano lessons, has been ill recently.
Mr. Green, whom you met at my home last month, is my music teacher.
Mr. Green, from whom I have piano lessons, is a good teacher.

Notice that:

1) The complementizer that is not used in non-defining relative clauses.

2) The objective form whom, rare in spoken English, is regularly used in non-defining relative
clauses.
3) In non-defining relative clauses the relative pronoun is not omitted. If the pronoun is
governed by a preposition, the preposition usually precedes (see examples above).

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE ADJECTIVES:

Mr Green, whose wife teaches singing, is himself a teacher of the piano.

The chief of police, whose work is very important, takes care of the public safety.
The king, whose life has been devoted to his country, deserves his popularity.
Beethoven, whose music you have just been listening to, was one of the world's finest
composers.
They stayed with me three weeks, during which time they drank all the wine I had. (=
and during this time)

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE ADVERBS:

Stratford-on-Avon, where Shakespeare was born, is visited by thousands of tourists.

Last year I went to see the country town, where I used to live.

3
 Boxing Day, when Christmas boxes used to be given to servants, is the day following
Christmas Day.
He died in l666, when the Great fire of London destroyed a large part of the city.

SENTENTIAL NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES:

Sentential relative clauses are non-defining relative clauses which do not have a single noun
or noun phrase as antecedent. They refer back to the predicate or predication of a clause
(examples 1, 2 and 3), or to a whole clause or sentence (examples 4 and 5), or even to a series
of sentences (example 6):

1) They say he plays truant, which he doesn't.

2) He walks for an hour each morning, which would bore me.
3) I was told not to go by train but by bus, which advice I followed.
4) Things then improved, which surprises me.
5) Colin married my sister and I married his brother, which makes Colin and me
double in-laws.
6) - which is how the Kangaroo came to have a pouch. [said at the end of a story]

These clauses are introduced by the relative pronoun which and by the relative adjective
which (example 3 above). Since they may be paraphrased by means of and this, and it they
are said to be semantically equivalent to coordinate clauses, e.g.:

He admires Mrs. Hewitt, which surprises me.

He admires Mrs. Hewitt, and this surprises me.

Some other examples:

He walked along the wall on his hands, which was a very difficult thing to do.
He studied hard in his youth, which contributed to his success in later life.
He passed his examinations with honours, which made his parents very proud of
him.
He has to work on Sundays, which he does not like.
He bore a hole in my tooth, which was very unpleasant.