Relative

This lesson is on relative adverbs relative adverbs introduce relative clauses and the relative adverbs are where when and why.

And they used to join two smaller but related sentences.

And if you have formal text in which you get a preposition plus which you can replace this with a relative adverb to make the text a bit more informal and the rules for restrictive and non restrictive relative clauses still apply here.

Very important

so we use Relative Adverb to join to smaller but related sentences his two small but related sentences.

This is a swimming pool I used to swim in the pool.

Sounds a bit simplistic.

So we joined the two by saying this is the pool where I used to swim when I got home from work.

I did the dishes again.

Sounds a bit simplistic.

We can do better.

I did the dishes when I got home from work Steve called me.

I don’t know the reason.

I don’t know the reason why Steve called me and we would usually admit the reason.

This is why it’s in brackets and just say I don’t know why Steve called me if we have formal text which uses prepositions plus which we can replace that with a relative adverb to make the text appear less stiff and stuff stuffy that’s the pub in which we first met sounds a little bit style stiff doesn’t it so we say that’s the pub where we first met or there was a bitterly cold winter the year in which he was born better sounding is.

There was a bitterly cold winter the year when he was born or I will tell you the reason for which Greg is sad.

Again it sounds very old fashioned and stiff I will tell you why Greg is sad is really what people would say these days.

and the rules for restrictive and non restrictive clauses still apply here.

So just as a reminder a restrictive or defining clause that’s essential information which we need to identify a known and if we remove this clause the sentence either makes no sense or is missing important information.

And when we do this we need no commerce and a non restrictive or non defining clause adds additional information to announce that we’ve already defined and if we remove the additional clause the sentence is fine.

And where we have this type of clause we put commas around the extra information and we look at some examples of those now.

so when we had the essential information the pub where we first met is a special place and if we take out this essential information that’s underlined we get the pub is a special place.

Well what pub why is it special.

The thing that makes it special is it’s the pub where we first met and that’s important or the seventies were a time when many fashion’s sins were committed and if you remember that time horrible white trousers massive jacket lapels huge white ties bad haircuts shoes with platform horrible horrible stuff hopefully they’ll never come back if you remove the underlined part which is the restrictive clause we get the 70s were a time what kind of time doesn’t really tell us anything.

Well I don’t know why Paul was late if we just remove the underlined part we get I don’t know the reason what reason for what.

Again that it’s missing the important information and in all the cases where we listed the complete sentence you’ll notice there’s no commas anywhere to be seen.

if we look at non restrictive or non defining clauses we’ll see that they add additional information so Munich Well I used to live is a fascinating city and we see the commerce around the non restrictive clause which when we remove it.

Munich is a fascinating city.

The fact that I used to live there was just a little bit of extra information summer when it is warm is my favourite season and when we remove the underlined part yet.

Summer is my favourite season which is a perfectly legitimate sentence it tells us what we need to know the bit about when it is warm is just a bit of extra information and the Relative Adverb y cannot be used to introduce non restrictive relative clauses.