Noun Postmodification: Relative Clauses

Postmodification with Various Types of Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are also very common post modifiers of noun phrases in academic texts.

A relative clause consists of a relativizer which connects the clause to the head noun plus the clause itself. The relativizer points back (anaphorically) to the the head noun. This is sometimes called the antecedent.

Relativizers are relative pronouns (who, which, whose, that, whom) or relative adverbs (when, where, why).

Relative clauses are also divided into two main types (restrictive and non-restrictive). In restrictive clauses the postmodifier is closely identified with the head noun; it has a defining function. In non-restrictive clauses the postmodifier serves to add more information about the head word. Non-restrictive clauses are separated from the head noun by a comma.

Who

The relativizer "who" is only used with a human head noun phrase.

• kids who listened to the BritPop band Blur      (context)
• many profoundly blind people, who cannot perceive light,      (context)

  The first example is a restrictive relative clause - it defines or restricts the type of kids who did better on tests. The second example is a non-restrictive clause - it just gives extra information about blind people.

Which

The relativizer "which" is almost exclusively used with inanimate head noun phrases or head noun phrases referring to animals.

• details which are no longer available      (context)
• the hormone leptin, which helps control hunger,      (context)

  The first example is a restrictive relative clause. The second example is a non-restrictive clause - it just gives extra information about leptin.

That

The relativizer "that" is used with both animate and inanimate head noun phrases. However, it is rare to see "that" used as a relativizer for human subjects in academic texts and there are no examples here.

• the idea that listening to Mozart makes you “smarter”      (context)
• ingredient in household vinegar, that gives its distinctive smell and taste,      (context)

  The first example is a restrictive relative clause and the second is a non-restrictive relative clause.

Whose

The relativizer "whose" is used with both animate and inanimate head noun phrases. It is used to indicate possession. Where it is used with inanimate head nouns it usually indicates membership of a category.

• a physical oceanographer whose work has had a “transformative impact” on our understanding of Earth’s oceans      (context)
• the ordinary ancient Egyptians whose mummies have been excavated over the centuries,      (context)

  Both of these examples are restrictive relative clauses.

Whom

The relativizer "whom" is only used with a human head noun phrase. It is rarely used in academic texts and no examples are provided here.

Where

The adverb relativizer "where" is used to give information about events in a particular location.

• unnatural surfaces where their camouflage doesn’t work      (context)
• The shell, where some hydrogen is still burning to form helium,      (context)

  Both of these examples are non-restrictive relative clauses.

When

The adverb relativizer "when" is used to give information about events at a particular time.

• the instant when the Moon is at first or third quarter     (context)
• 1950 when acetate films were becoming popular     (context)

  The first example is a restrictive relative clause and the second is a non-restrictive relative clause.

Why

The adverb relativizer "why" is used to give information about the reason for a particular event. In fact the adverb relativizer "why" is almost always preceded by the word "reason" or "reasons".

• systemic reasons why young people bully     (context)
• a few reasons why the weight creeps back on     (context)
• The reason why we watch videos of Echo and find them amusing     (context)

This structure is almost always followed by an explanation of the reason or reasons, either within the same sentence or in the following one, as you can see from the context provided for the examples above.

Relative clauses with no relativizer

Sometimes the relativizer is omitted. These relative clauses with no relativizer are sometimes know as 'contact clauses'. These sentences can always be rewritten inserting an appropriate relativizer, as show below.

• plenty we still don’t know about the brain’s white matter     (context)

  This could be rewritten as "plenty that we still don’t know about the brain’s white matter".

• the networks they form     (context)

  This could be rewritten as "the networks which they form".

• the way the studies were carried out     (context)

  This could be rewritten as "the way in which the studies were carried out".

Relative clauses with no relativizer are more common where a personal pronoun is present as a subject in the relative clause, as in the first example above. Long relative clauses usually include a relativizer, otherwise the sentence becomes more difficult to parse.

Test your understanding with the Relative Clauses Quiz.