Relative pronouns serve to connect subordinate clauses with the main clause. They are allied words, which differ from conjunctions in that they not only connect the subordinate clause with the main one, but are also members of the subordinate clause.

To connect subordinate clauses of subjects, predicates and additional with the main pronouns are used who who (whom whom), whose whose, what who, what, which which, what, who, what. They are, therefore, the same interrogative pronouns, but used not for a question, but for connecting sentences):
Who has done it is unknown. Who did it is unknown.
I don't know which of them speak French. I don't know which of them speaks French.
That is not what I want. This is not what I want.

Note. Relative pronoun what often translated into Russian through what.
Pronouns are used to connect attributive clauses with the main clause. who with meaning which(whom), whose which, which and that with meaning which, whom:
The man who is sitting next to Mr. A. is my English teacher. The person sitting next to Mr. A is my English teacher.
The watch that I lost was a very good one. The watch I lost was very good.

Who who is used in relation to persons and performs the function of the subject in the subordinate clause:
The man who was here is a book-keeper. The man who was here is an accountant.

Form whom is also used in relation to persons and performs the function of a direct object in the subordinate clause:
There is the man whom we saw in the park yesterday. This is the man we saw in the park yesterday.

Which, which refers to inanimate objects and animals and performs the function of a subject or direct object in a subordinate clause:
The books which are on the table must be returned to the library today The books on the table must be returned to the library today. (subject).
Didn't show me the letter which he had received from his brother.He showed me the letter he received from his brother. (direct addition).
Didn't show me the skin of the wolf which he had killed (direct addition).

Which may refer not to a single word, but to the preceding sentence as a whole, replacing its content, and in this case corresponds to the Russian relative pronoun What in meaning and this:
Didn't come to see me off which was very kind of him. He came to see me off, which (=and this) was very kind of him.
I said nothing which made him more angry. I didn't say anything, which (=and this) irritated him even more.

Pronoun whose is used in relation to animated objects and, unlike the Russian language, stands before the noun to which it refers:
That is the girl whose brother came to see us the other day. This is a girl whose brother came to us the other day.
Do you know the man whose house we saw yesterday? Do you know the man whose house we saw yesterday?

Whose, however, can sometimes refer to inanimate objects, replacing turnover of which after a noun:
We saw a mountain whose top (= the top of which) was covered with snow. We saw a mountain, the top of which was covered with snow.

Pronoun that which applies to both animate and inanimate objects.
That often replaces which And whom in individualizing and classifying attributive clauses:
The article that(which) I translated yesterday was very easy. The article I translated yesterday was very easy.
These are the words that(which) you mispronounce. These are the words you mispronounce.
Vessels that(which) are built for the transportation of oil products are called tankers. Vessels built to transport petroleum products are called tankers.

Note. Pronoun who, serving as the subject, is rarely replaced by a pronoun that
The man who (that) has written this article is my friend. The person who wrote this article is my friend.

After nouns defined by superlative adjectives, ordinal numbers, and all, any, only only the pronoun is used that(but not which And whom):
This is the best dictionary that I have ever seen. This is the best dictionary I have ever seen.
This is the first composition that he has written in English. This is the first work he wrote in English.
Come at any time that is convenient to you. Come any time that suits you.

In descriptive attributive sentences that not used:
His article on this subject, which was published in 1948, was a great success. His article on the subject, which was published in 1948, was a great success.
My brother whom I have not seen for a year, has just returned to Moscow. My brother, whom I have not seen for a year, has just returned to Moscow.

whom And which in combination with prepositions, they perform the function of a prepositional indirect object. The preposition can stand as before whom And which, and after the verb, and if there is an addition - after the addition:
The man about whom we were talking yesterday will come at five o "clock. (= whom we were talking about yesterday) The person we talked about yesterday will come at five o'clock.

When using a relative pronoun that(in individualizing and classifying attributive sentences) the preposition always comes after the verb. Before a pronoun that the preposition cannot stand:
The man that we were talking about yesterday will come at five o "clock.
This is not the letter that they refer to.

Note. The verb after the relative pronoun that serves as the subject agrees in number with the word in the main clause to which the pronoun refers:
The student who is standing at the window is my brother. The student at the window is my brother.
The students who are standing at the window are my friends. The students standing by the window are my friends.

To link definitive clauses with main clauses, adverbs where are used in the same way as in Russian. Where And when:
I am going to spend my vacation in the village where I was born. I am going to spend my holidays in the village where I was born.
That happened on the day when he left for Leningrad. It happened on the day he left for Leningrad.

After the noun reason, the adverb is used instead of the relative pronoun why:
That is the reason why he did it. Here's the reason why he did it.

After same And such used as a relative pronoun as:
I had the same difficulty as you had. I had the same predicament as you (which you had).
It is not such an interesting book as I thought. This is not as interesting a book as I thought.

Cases of absence of relative pronouns

In individualizing and classifying attributive clauses, relative pronouns, which are the object of a subordinate clause, are usually omitted, especially in colloquial speech:
That is the man we met yesterday (= whom we met yesterday). This is the man we met yesterday.

If there is a preposition with the pronoun, then when the pronoun is omitted, it is placed after the verb:
This is the book the professor referred to in his lecture (= to which the professor referred to in his lecture). This is the book that the professor referred to in his lecture.

Relative pronouns serving as the subject of a subordinate clause cannot be omitted:
The man who is sitting next to Mr. A. is my English teacher. The person who sits next to Mr. A. is my English teacher.

Among the numerous categories of pronouns, it is customary to single out two into a single group - this is interrogative And relative pronouns. In terms of spelling and sound, they are exactly the same, but they have a different meaning in the sentence - that is, they are homonyms in relation to each other.

How not to mix up the ranks? To do this, you need to understand what their essence is.

Relative pronouns - what is characteristic of them, and what do they serve?

Words from this category of pronouns can express the belonging of any objects, their number and the objects themselves. Pronouns such as "how many", "whom", "what", "who", "what", "which" and "whose" belong to the relative ones. Usually in speech they are used as connecting links. For example:

• He liked that closet better which was white.
• I asked, Which the bus goes to the subway.
• No one knew, whose it's a scarf.

Relative pronouns can be declined according to all the main features. However, we must remember that in the words "what", "how much" and "who" only the case changes - for example, "whom" or "what", "how many". But the rest of the pronouns are declined, including by gender and number. For example - “what”, “what”, “what”, or “whose”, “whose”, “whose”. In addition, for the word "which" there is also a short form "what".

Interrogative pronouns - the essence and main difference from the previous group

Interrogative pronouns are very similar to relative pronouns - it's not for nothing that they are so often confused. They sound and are written in exactly the same way - “who”, “what”, “how much”, “what”, and so on. The rules for their declension are similar - “what”, “who” and “how much” change only in accordance with cases, the rest of the words - according to numbers, genders and cases.

But there is one fundamental difference. An interrogative pronoun can only be used in sentences that ask a question. In either case, it emphasizes that the questioner does not know something - and refers to someone or something to find out.

Examples of interrogative pronouns would be:

• How many kilograms of potatoes in this package?
• Whose is this coat?
• Who opened the window in the room?

Thus, it is very easy to distinguish between two groups of pronouns. For example, in the phrase "Who forgot the book on the windowsill?" we are dealing with an interrogative pronoun because we see a question. But in the phrase “I asked who forgot the book on the windowsill”, the word “who” will already be a relative pronoun - since the question is not asked, the sentence only tells that it was sounded.

We continue our conversation about English pronouns. Today we have another section of this part of speech on the agenda and we are discussing relative pronouns in English.

Relative pronouns or relative pronouns have a special function in speech. They are necessary in order to connect the subordinate and the main clause as part of a complex one. But they do not just connect the parts of the sentence, but are themselves its members.

Today we will look at each of these pronouns and tell you everything you wanted to know about them.

There are 5 relative pronouns in English:

• Who - who, who
• Whose - whose, which
• Whom - to whom, to whom
• Which - which
• That - which

To better remember them and understand everything well, let's look at each relative pronoun separately.

Relative pronoun Who in a sentence refers to people:

• This is the designer who decorated our bedroom. - ThisThatdesigner, which issuedourbedroom.
• The boy who phoned you yesterday is my cousin. - Boy, which calledyouyesterday, mycousinBrother.
• Tom is the journalist who wrote that article. - VolumeThatmostjournalist, which wrote that article.

Pronoun Whose denotes belonging to animate objects:

• Whose book is this? — Whose Thisbook?
• Do you remember Mr. Green whose car was broken? Do you remember Mr Green? whose The car broke down?
• Yesterday Mary whose dog was sick, went to the vet. - YesterdayMary, whose dog(dogwhich) got sick, wentToveterinarian.

Pronoun whom more often refers to people, but sometimes it can also refer to inanimate objects. Usually used with a preposition to :

• This is the man to whom I offered my studio. - This is a man to whom I provided my office.
• Anders, to whom you gave your business, is a very honest man. — MisterAnders, to whom Yougave awayminebusiness, VeryhonestHuman.
• Alex is the person whom you need to talk to. Alex is the person which you need to talk.

Relative pronoun Which refers to inanimate and animate (except people) objects:

• Tomshowedmethebuildingwhich wasestablishedsomecenturiesago. Tom showed me the building which was built several centuries ago.
• The movie which you advised to watch is very interesting. - Movie, which You suggested to look, very interesting.
• The dog which you gave me is very devoted. - Dog, which you gave me, very devoted.

Relative pronoun That also applies to inanimate and animate (except people) objects:

• The skirt that she bought last week is very expensive. - Skirt, which she bought last week, very expensive.
• These are flowers that my child planted himself. - Thisflowers, which mychildplantedmyself.
• Clangorous animals that live in Australia. - Kangaroos are animals which live in Australia.

Often relative pronouns also include a pronoun What, but only in some cases:

• This is not what I expected. - That's not it. What I expected.
• Iforgotwhat youwere tellingme. - I forgot, What You told me.
• I want to tell you what I heard yesterday. - I want to tell you What I heard yesterday.

How to learn relative pronouns easily and quickly?

Friends, learning relative pronouns is simply necessary for everyone who studies English. Because the use of relative pronouns in speech makes you a real Englishman. These words make your speech more developed and rich, you can use not only simple sentences, but also complex ones, and your vocabulary expands.

Relative pronouns themselves are not difficult to learn, just a little practice in writing them. Another thing is important: to remember firmly how, in what cases and for what relative pronouns serve and are used. Which of them are for people and animate objects, and which ones are for inanimate.

To succeed in this matter, reread our material carefully and practice using relative pronouns. Make up complex sentences in which relative pronouns will link main and subordinate clauses together. Perform special exercises on this topic, and you will definitely succeed!

Relative pronouns, along with personal, possessive and pronouns of other categories, do not name objects and signs, like others, but point to them. Therefore, basically, only by context can we determine the specific semantic meaning of the pronoun. For example, the word "which" in the sentence: "Which house?" is an interrogative pronoun, and in the sentence: “I saw a dream that I remembered for a long time” - relative.

The semantic and properties of pronouns allow them to correlate with adjectives, numerals, nouns, and adverbs. The so-called impersonal pronouns stand apart:

• noun pronouns: who, someone, someone, you, me, others;
• pronouns-adjectives: such, another, someone else, others;
• pronouns-adverbs: once, always, why, here, etc.;
• pronouns comparable to impersonal predicative words, i.e. impersonal pronouns: such, what;
• pronouns-numerals: how much, so much (indicate a generalized amount).

Relative pronouns in Russian have a number of features. They are characterized by semantic and grammatical diversity, because the words included in this group - which, whose, which, how much - can also express interrogative relations, and can act in a sentence as In the first meaning they contain a question about an object, sign, and do not indicate it, and in the second they connect main and subordinate parts in a complex sentence.

Grammar Subtleties of Relative Pronouns

• Relative pronouns who what do not have the category of number and gender. But they can be used to determine whether an animate or inanimate object is being discussed. At the same time, the pronoun who has a combination possibility with words that are both in the singular and in the plural: But those who had been arguing with him yesterday were nodding their heads approvingly today. I don't remember who laughed at you!
• In a sentence with a pronoun Who, to achieve agreement with the feminine, often use the pronoun such: I was wondering who this girl is. This is due to the fact that the words that are associated with the pronoun who are used in the masculine form.
• If the pronoun What in a sentence is a union word, its gender is determined by the gender of the noun with which it is associated: The dream that my father had had haunted us for a long time. Usually, the words that are associated with this pronoun are used in the form of the middle gender.
• Pronoun What traditionally used only in the singular form: No matter how much we listened to the motor, it remained unclear to us what was making noise there.
• Relative pronouns who what they decline as follows: who, as pronouns, this, that, and what - like the whole: Who is this, whom is this, by whom are these, about whom is about this, etc. What - everything, what - everything, what - everything, what - everything, about what - about everything, etc.
• Performing in compound allied words, relative pronouns are members of the sentence and are underlined in accordance with this: Tell me, what is your score on the test?(the word “what” is underlined with a wavy line, because it is a pronoun)

Controversial points in morphology

Not all linguists, authors of textbooks and teaching aids on the Russian language, agree with the allocation of relative and interrogative pronouns into independent categories. Some consider them to be the same words that just perform different tasks in sentences:

• serve to express a question in interrogative sentences;
• play the role of allied words.

Thus, according to their calculations, pronouns have not 9, but 8 digits by value.

According to other linguists, and they are the majority, these are words of different categories, but coinciding in form, i.e. being homonyms.

Paul, etc. In a sentence, it can be a subject, an object.

Grammatical features of relative pronouns

In some languages, such as German, Serbo-Croatian, Latin, where in the declension of nouns there are categories of gender, number and case, the relative pronoun agrees in gender and number with the antecedent, while the case shows its relation to the verb in the subordinate or main offer. In some languages, the relative is an invariable word (cf. English that).

Words used as relative pronouns often originally had other functions. So, for example, in English which is also a question word. This suggests that relative clauses may be a relatively late development in many languages. Some languages ​​(such as Welsh) do not have relative pronouns.

Relative pronouns in the languages ​​of the world

Relative pronouns in Russian

Relative pronouns in Russian are the words which, Which, coy, Who, What, How many, whose, what etc. Thus, relative pronouns are the same as interrogative pronouns.

• Pronoun Who indicates animate nouns. Pronoun Who can be combined with words in the singular and in the plural: I don't know who told you. But those who did it will answer for their words. Who, are used in the masculine gender: I don't know who told you that.
• Pronoun What indicates inanimate nouns. Pronoun What used in the singular: Can't hear the noise. Pronoun related words What, are used in the middle gender: Whatever happens, people will help.
• Who, What, How many- do not have a number and gender, change in cases.
• Which, whose, which- change in gender, number and cases according to the type of adjectives.

In terms of grammatical and semantic features, relative pronouns as a whole do not differ from interrogative ones, but some differences are still found. For example, the pronoun coy will not have a nominative singular feminine form, and when acting as a subject, it is inflected as a possessive adjective.

Relative pronouns in English

The train was late, which annoyed him greatly“The train was late, which annoyed him greatly”

In a free relative clause, the relative has no antecedent; the subordinate clause plays the role of a coreferential element in the main clause. A relative pronoun used in this way is often called fusional relative pronoun, since the antecedent merges with the pronoun:

I like what you did"I like what you did"

Relative pronouns and relativization

The design is considered relative clause if it is a clause which, either by itself or in combination with a noun, denotes some object, and if this designated entity has a semantic role within the relative clause. If there is a noun outside of the relative clause that defines the object and is also defined by the clause, then that noun will be considered summit relative clause.

There are classes of languages ​​with different relativization strategies.

The 2 main types of relative clauses are

• 1) languages ​​in which a relative clause follows a noun:

a. English the book N Rel b. mybrat Aof sago ‘the sago tree that they felled’

• 2) languages ​​in which the relative clause precedes the noun:

alamblack yima-r person-3SG.M ‘a man who would have followed you’

Special type - correlation relative clauses, as in the Bamana language:

bambara, o ye fini san 3SG PST cloth buy ‘The woman who left the bought cloth.’

Correlative clauses are, strictly speaking, a subtype of relative clauses with an internal apex, since the apex noun is also inside the relative clause, but differ in that the relative clause is outside the main clause and is anaphorically related to the noun phrase in the main clause.

Subject relativization

For subjects, the first strategy is the so-called relative pronoun strategy: the relativized position is marked within the relative clause with a pronominal element, and this pronoun is case-marked to show the role of the vertex noun within the relative clause.

German : Der Mann, , war ein Deutscher. man.NOM REL.NOM me greet.PTCP has be.3SG.PST one German ‘The man who greeted me was a German.’

However, it should be noted that the presence of a relative pronoun is not enough to consider the case as a relative pronoun strategy, since this relative pronoun can, for example, be case-marked not to show its role in the relative clause, but to agree with the case of the vertex noun in the main sentence.

Another important subject relativization strategy is the pronoun preservation strategy. In languages ​​with this strategy, the relativized position is explicitly indicated by a generalized personal pronoun.

babungo mǝ̀ yè wǝ́ ntɨ́ǝ ƒáŋ ŋwǝ́ sɨ́ sàŋ ghɔ̂ I see.pfv person that who he pst2 beat.pfv you ‘I have seen the man who has beaten you.’

Relativization of indirect complements

The first group of languages ​​are languages ​​with a relative pronoun strategy. One of these languages ​​is Russian:

Literature

• Bird, Charles; Kante, Mamadou. An Kan Bamanakan Kalan: Intermediate Bambara. - Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1976.
• Bruce, Les. The Alamblak Language of Papua New Guinea (East Sepik). - Canberra: Australian National University, 1984.
• Comrie, Bernard. Rethinking the typology of relative clauses. - Language Design, 1998.
• Comrie, Bernard; Kuteva, Tania.
• Dol, Philomena. A Grammar of Maybrat: A Language of the Bird's Head, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. - University of Leiden, 1999.
• Dryer, Matthew S. The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. - Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 2013.
• Schaub, Willi. Babungo. - London: Croom Helm, 1985.