Attributive Clauses

Attributive clauses serve as an attribute to a noun (pronoun) in the main clause. This noun or pronoun is called the antecedent of the clause:

Holiday resorts which are crowded are not very pleasant.

According to their meaning attributive clauses may be divided into appositive and relative ones.

1. An appositiveclause may be introduced by the conjunctions that, if, whether, as if, etc. and the conjunctive words what, how, etc..

An appositive clause discloses the meaning of a noun (the antecedent) with a general meaning, such as: idea, fact, reason, desire, question, remark, comment, etc.:

The fact that his letter did not require an immediate answer would give me time to consider.

The original question, why he did it at all, has not been answered.

She had a strange sensation as if something had happened.

2. A relative clause may be introduced by the relative pronouns and adverbs who, whose, whom, what, which, when, where, etc.:

He went to the next house, which stood in a small garden.

The clause is called a relative clause because it “relates” to the noun, in this case, by means of the word which. Relative clauses (like adjectives) describe persons, things and events.

Relative clauses can be defining (limiting/restrictive) and non-defining (descriptive/non-restrictive/commenting).

Defining relative clauses are very closely connected with the antecedent, provide essential information about it and therefore they cannot be removed without destroying the meaning of the sentence. Defining relative clauses are used without commas:

What kind of government would be popular? ― The government which promises to cut taxes.

A library is a place where they keep books.

Non-defining relative clauses contain additional information about the antecedent which can be omitted without serious change in the meaning of the main clause. Non-defining relative clauses are usually used with commas:

The government, which promises to cut taxes, will be popular.

I consulted my father, who promised to help me.

Note: There are only two conjunctions that can introduce non-defining relative clauses. They are who and which.

The following sentences have exactly the same words. The only difference in form between them is that the first sentence has a clause separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. There is, on the other hand, a big difference in meaning:

(A) Children, who are untidy, do not take care of their things.

(B) Children who are untidy do not take care of their things.

Sentence (A) is a statement about all children, and contains two facts: 1) all children are untidy and 2) all children fail to take care of their things. In other words, the clause.., who are untidy,... is a non-defining clause.

Sentence (B) is a statement about some children, i.e. untidy children, and it states one fact about them: they fail to take care of their things. In other words, the clause... who are untidy... is a defining clause.

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