Welcome to the Advanced Level
Right, you've mastered the basics, now it's time for the proper advanced stuff. This is where relative clauses get interesting - and where most people cock it up spectacularly. But not you, because you're about to learn the sophisticated techniques that'll make you sound like a bloody grammar genius!
Relative Clauses with Prepositions
When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition, you have two choices:
- Formal: The person to whom I spoke was helpful
- Informal: The person who I spoke to was helpful
- Very informal: The person I spoke to was helpful
Quantifying Relative Clauses
Using expressions like "some of which," "many of whom," "all of which":
- I have 20 students, most of whom are very motivated
- She wrote 5 books, all of which became bestsellers
- There were 100 applicants, few of whom were qualified
Relative Clauses with "What"
"What" means "the thing that" - it's a relative pronoun and antecedent combined:
- What you said was brilliant (= The thing that you said)
- I don't understand what he means
- What happened next was unexpected
Reduced Relative Clauses
Sometimes you can drop the relative pronoun and "be" verb:
- The man (who is) sitting there is my boss
- The book (which was) written in 1960 is famous
- Anyone (who is) interested should apply
Prepositions in Relative Clauses
This is where it gets properly tricky. The preposition can go at the beginning (formal) or at the end (informal):
With "Whom" (People)
Formal: The colleague with whom I work is brilliant.
Informal: The colleague who I work with is brilliant.
Use "whom" after prepositions in formal writing.
With "Which" (Things)
Formal: The project on which I'm working is complex.
Informal: The project which I'm working on is complex.
The preposition can move to the end in informal speech.
With "Where" (Places)
The city where I live is expensive.
= The city in which I live is expensive.
"Where" replaces "in/at/on which" for places.
With "When" (Time)
The day when we met was special.
= The day on which we met was special.
"When" replaces "on/in/at which" for time.
When You Can (and Can't) Omit the Relative Pronoun
CAN Omit (Object of Verb)
- The book (that) I read was great
- The person (who) you met is my sister
- The car (which) he bought is expensive
- The movie (that) we watched was boring
The relative pronoun is the object of the verb in the relative clause.
CANNOT Omit (Subject of Verb)
- The book that is on the table is mine
- The person who called you is here
- The car which broke down is old
- The movie that won the award is brilliant
The relative pronoun is the subject of the verb in the relative clause.
Complex Sentence Analysis
Let's break down some properly complex sentences:
The company for which I work, which was founded in 1995, has offices in 20 countries.
Breakdown:
- Main clause: "The company... has offices in 20 countries"
- Defining clause: "for which I work" (identifies which company)
- Non-defining clause: "which was founded in 1995" (extra info)
What surprised me most was the fact that nobody, not even those who knew him well, had predicted his success.
Breakdown:
- "What surprised me most" = subject (relative clause with "what")
- "was the fact that nobody... had predicted his success" = main clause
- "who knew him well" = defining relative clause (identifies which people)
The students, many of whom had never studied abroad before, adapted quickly to life in London.
Breakdown:
- Main clause: "The students... adapted quickly to life in London"
- Non-defining clause: "many of whom had never studied abroad before"
- Quantifying expression: "many of whom" (some of the students)
Advanced Relative Clause Challenge!
1. The person _____ I was speaking is my manager.
2. I have 50 books, _____ are about grammar.
most of them
most of which
most of who
3. _____ you told me yesterday was very interesting.
4. The book _____ on the table is mine. (Can you omit the relative pronoun?)
Yes, you can omit it
No, you cannot omit it
5. The movie _____ we watched last night was excellent. (Can you omit the relative pronoun?)
Yes, you can omit it
No, you cannot omit it
6. My colleagues, _____ are very experienced, helped me a lot.
some of them
some of whom
some of which
Book a Lesson
Ready to practice with a real human? Book a lesson with a native English speaker!
Book Now
Take a Speaking Test
Test your English speaking skills with our comprehensive assessment!
Start Test
