Module 2 lesson 3

Module 2

Lesson 3

Student’s Book pages 13-14

                              

Grammar

Relative Pronouns

 What Is a Relative Pronoun?

Before getting into how to use relative pronouns, it's important to have a solid definition of what they are. A relative pronoun is used to connect a clause or phrase to a noun or pronoun. The clause modifies or describes the noun. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that. Sometimes, when and where can be used as relative pronouns as well.

Relative Pronoun	Usage	Example
who	used for people: replaces subject pronouns like I, she, he, we, they	It was my husband who broke the car door.
whose	shows possession or relationship	This is the girl whose notes I borrowed.
whom	replaces object pronouns like me, her, him	The man whom they found was sent home.
which	used for objects and animals (typically non-defining clauses)	The robots, which were waiting outside, were ready for shipment.
that	used for people and things (typically defining clauses)	The piggy bank that was on my desk got broken.

 

How to Use Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are placed directly after the noun or pronoun they modify (which are underlined in the examples below). The subject of the sentence is described by a relative clause (italicized). Since these clauses describe a noun or a pronoun, they are also known as adjective clauses because they act like adjectives in the sentence.

Each clause is introduced by a relative pronoun (in bold). Relative pronouns connect the description to the rest of the sentence in an orderly way. See how this works through a few examples.

• The driver who ran the stop sign was careless.
• The children, whom we love dearly, need better educational systems.
• Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
• I have a friend whose cat is annoying.
• The book, which is now out of print, has all the information you need.
• This is the book that everyone is talking about.

 

When and Where as Relative Pronouns

Occasionally, the relative adverbs when and where are also used as relative pronouns. As a relative pronoun, when introduces clauses that describe a noun that refers to a time, and where refers to a place. Check out a few different sentence examples.

 

Grandma remembers a time when radio shows were popular.

She remembered the day when they met.

The office where I work is in this building.

I want to visit the island where my grandma was born.

 

We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses. Relative clauses tell us more about people and things:

Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.
This is the house which Jack built.
Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.

 

We use:

• who and whom for people
• which for things
• that for people or things.

Two kinds of relative clause

There are two kinds of relative clause:

1.  We use relative clauses to make clear which person or thing we are talking about:

Marie Curie is the woman who discovered radium.
This is the house which Jack built.

 

In this kind of relative clause, we can use that instead of who or which:

Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.
This is the house that Jack built.

 

2. We can leave out the pronoun if it is the object of the relative clause:

This is the house that Jack built. (that is the object of built)

 

The Comparative and Superlative

Comparative adjectives

Comparative adjectives are used to compare differences between the two objects they modify (larger, smaller, faster, higher). They are used in sentences where two nouns are compared, in this pattern:

Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).

The second item of comparison can be omitted if it is clear from the context (final example below).

Examples

• My house is larger than hers.
• This box is smaller than the one I lost.
• Your dog runs faster than Jim's dog.
• The rock flew higher than the roof.
• Jim and Jack are both my friends, but I like Jack better. ("than Jim" is understood)

 

 

Superlative adjectives

Superlative adjectives are used to describe an object which is at the upper or lower limit of a quality (the tallest, the smallest, the fastest, the highest). They are used in sentences where a subject is compared to a group of objects.

Noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object).

The group that is being compared with can be omitted if it is clear from the context (final example below).

Examples

• My house is the largest one in our neighborhood.
• This is the smallest box I've ever seen.
• Your dog ran the fastest of any dog in the race.
• We all threw our rocks at the same time. My rock flew the highest. ("of all the rocks" is understood)

 

 

Forming regular comparatives and superlatives

Forming comparatives and superlatives is easy. The form depends on the number of syllables in the original adjective.

 

One syllable adjectives

Add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative. If the adjective has a consonant + single vowel + consonant spelling, the final consonant must be doubled before adding the ending.

 

 

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
tall	taller	The tallest
fat	fatter	The fattest
big	bigger	The biggest
sad	sadder	The saddest

 

Two syllables

Adjectives with two syllables can form the comparative either by adding -er or by preceeding the adjective with more. These adjectives form the superlative either by adding -est or by preceeding the adjective with most. In many cases, both forms are used, although one usage will be more common than the other. If you are not sure whether a two-syllable adjective can take a comparative or superlative ending, play it safe and use more and most instead. For adjectives ending in y, change the y to an i before adding the ending.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
happy	happier	The happiest
simple	simpler	The simplest
busy	busier	The busiest

 

Three or more syllables

Adjectives with three or more syllables form the comparative by putting more in front of the adjective, and the superlative by putting most in front.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
important	more important	The most important
expensive	more expensive	The most expensive

 

Irregular comparatives and superlatives

These very common adjectives have completely irregular comparative and superlative forms.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	The best
bad	worse	The worst
little	less	The least
much	more	The most
far	further / farther	The furthest / farthest

Examples

• Today is the worst day I've had in a long time.
• You play tennis better than I do.
• This is the least expensive sweater in the store.
• This sweater is less expensive than that one.
• I ran pretty far yesterday, but I ran even farther today.