Unit 17: Relative clauses
Ngữ pháp Relative clauses
📘 Giải thích tiếng Việt
Đại từ quan hệ (Relative pronouns)
Dùng để nối và bổ nghĩa cho danh từ đứng trước: who cho người, which cho vật/con vật, where cho nơi chốn, whose chỉ sự sở hữu. Ví dụ: the man who created the Internet; the town where Einstein was born.
Lưu ý: đã có đại từ quan hệ thì không lặp lại chủ ngữ/tân ngữ. Sai: the man who he created…; the experiment which I'm doing it.
Mệnh đề quan hệ xác định (Defining)
Cho thông tin quan trọng, cần thiết để xác định danh từ; bỏ đi thì câu mất nghĩa. Không dùng dấu phẩy, và có thể thay who/which bằng that. Ví dụ: the woman who/that invented Tippex.
Mệnh đề quan hệ không xác định (Non-defining)
Cho thông tin bổ sung, không bắt buộc; bỏ đi câu vẫn đủ nghĩa. Luôn dùng dấu phẩy và không thay được bằng that. Ví dụ: Carl, whose sister is famous, is a friend of mine. Dấu hiệu: có tên riêng và dấu phẩy hai đầu mệnh đề.
Theory
Relative pronouns
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| who for people | What's the name of the man who created the Internet? |
| which for things and animals | The experiment which worked was the last one. |
| where for places | This is the town where Albert Einstein was born. |
| whose to show possession | That's the man whose sister discovered a new planet. |
- We can use who for animals when we give them a personality.
✓ Our dog, who's called Benji, is eight years old. - When there is a relative pronoun, remember not to repeat the subject/object.
✗ What's the name of the man whohecreated the World Wide Web?
✗ This is the experiment which I'm doingitat the moment.
Non-defining relative clauses
That man over there, who is called Bill Gates, started Microsoft.
If we remove the relative clause → That man over there started Microsoft. ✓
✓ Carl, whose sister is famous, is a friend of mine.
Defining relative clauses
The person who is wearing the blue shirt started Microsoft.
If we remove the relative clause →
- We don't use commas with defining relative clauses.
- We can use that instead of who and which.
✓ Did you see the programme about the woman who invented Tippex?
✓ Did you see the programme about the woman that invented Tippex?
Exercise A
Complete using the words in the box. You have to use some words more than once.
Exercise B
Circle the extra word in each sentence.
Exercise C
Rewrite as one sentence using a relative clause.
Exercise D
Use the prompts to write sentences with defining relative clauses (who / which / whose).
Example: The tree which is tall doesn't have any leaves.
Exercise E
Tick (✓) the sentences from Exercise D where the relative pronoun can be replaced by that. Put a cross (✗) where that cannot replace the relative pronoun. Type "yes" or "no".
Exercise F
Write one word in each gap.
Actuaries
Did you know that there are people (1) __________ are paid to predict the future? They're called 'actuaries'. I'd never heard of actuaries until my friend Greg, (2) __________ mother is an actuary, told me about them. It's a job (3) __________ sounds quite interesting.
Actuaries usually work for companies, like insurance companies, (4) __________ deal with the chances of things happening in the future. Actuaries have to decide how probable it is that something will happen. For example, it's more probable that buildings will be flooded in places (5) __________ it rains a lot.
Greg's mum, (6) __________ has been an actuary for about five years, is involved with car insurance. She works in an office (7) __________ they decide how much car insurance people should pay. It's more probable that a car (8) __________ is new is safer and more reliable than a very old car, so people (9) __________ cars are new pay less insurance. If there are drivers (10) __________ she thinks will probably have more accidents, she makes them pay more insurance!
