Comprehensive Guide to English Relative Clauses, Absolute Constructions, and Participle Clauses

Defining Relative Clauses: Value and Functions

Adjectival Value: Defining relative clauses possess an adjectival value because they function as postmodifiers that expand the semantic meaning of a noun.
Primary Function: Their primary role within a noun phrase (NP) is that of a postmodifier. They serve to identify the intended reference of the head noun within the NP.
Scope of Reference: These clauses are designed to "narrow down the scope of reference of the nominal antecedent."
Requirement for Completeness: Without the defining clause, the intended meaning of a sentence is frequently incomplete, or the referent remains indistinguishable from a broader class. - Example: In the sentence "Richard hit the ball on the car that was going past," the clause is strictly necessary to distinguish which specific "car" is being referenced.
Internal Syntactic Role: The relativizer (e.g., who, which, that) introducing the clause fills a major syntactic role inside that subordinate clause, such as subject, direct object, adverbial, or complement of a preposition. These roles are mutually exclusive and cannot phonologically coexist.

Introduction of Defining Relative Clauses

Relativizers and Complementizers: These clauses are introduced by relative pronouns, relative determiners, or relative adverbs.
Relative Pronouns: - Who: "The man who is standing over there is my dad." - Whom: "The boyfriend to whom I gave the present to, cheated on me." - Which: "The apple which the witch gave me was poisoned." - That: "The girl that I talked to was Jane’s sister."
Relative Determiner: - Whose: "The girl whose name I forgot was Stacy."
Relative Adverbs: - Where (Place): "The place where the president should be is the electric chair." - When (Time): "That was the day when I found out he cheated on me." - Why (Reason): "That’s the reason why he cheated."
Internal Clause Functions: A pronoun or adverb functions within the clause as follows: - Direct Object (D.O.) - Prepositional Complement: Often involves preposition stranding. - Predicative Complement: Formed with a copular verb. Example: "He has become who [Copular verb + Predicative Complement]." - Locative Complement - Adjunct - Subject: "The girl whose name I forgot was Stacy."

Omission and Reduction of Defining Relative Clauses

Omission Rules for Relative Pronouns: - Non-Subject Function: The pronoun can be omitted when it functions as the object of the verb or the object of a preposition (a "non-subject gap"). - Example (Object): "The apple which the witch gave me was poisoned" becomes "The apple the witch gave me was poisoned." - Example (Trust): "It’s hard to find people who you can trust" becomes "It’s hard to find people you can trust." - Example (Preposition): "The chair which I sat on was broken" becomes "The chair I sat on was broken." - Restriction on Pied Piping: Omission is NOT possible in instances of pied piping. Example: "The chair on which I sat was broken." - Copular Verbs: "Angel doesn’t like the kind of teacher who he has become" becomes "Angel doesn’t like the kind of teacher he has become." - Non-Omission (Subject): Omission is NOT permitted when the pronoun functions as the subject of the clause.
Omission of Relative Adverbs: These can always be omitted. - Place: "The place where the president should be…" → "The place the president should be…" - Time: "That was the day when I found out…" → "That was the day I found out…" - Reason: "That’s the reason why he cheated" → "That’s the reason he cheated."
Reduction to Non-Finite or Verbless Clauses: - Reduction Principle: If the finite constituent is removed from the finite relative clause, the subject must also be removed. Non-finite clauses are inherently associated with a lack of a subject. - Reduction to Phrases: - Adjective Phrase: "The politicians who were close to Jeffrey Epstein…" → "The politicians close to Jeffrey Epstein…" - Adjective Phrase: "There are no more seats which are available…" → "There are no more seats available…" - Adjective Phrase: "I came up with something that was stupid" → "I came up with something stupid." - Adverbial Phrase: "The man who is over there is the criminal" → "The man over there is the criminal." - Prepositional Phrase: "The mate which is on the desk is mine" → "The mate on the desk is mine." - Reduction to Non-Finite Clauses: - Present Participle (-ing): Remove the finite element (auxiliary for progressive/participial aspect). Example: "The man who is standing over there…" → "The man standing over there…" - No Aspectual Aux: "People who live near here are nice" → "People living near here are nice." - Past Participle (-ed): Using passive "be." Example: "All the novels which were written by me suck" → "All the novels written by me suck." - To-infinitive Clause: "The man who you need to consult on this is Macklin" → "The man to consult on this is Macklin."

Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Value and Definition: These relate to antecedents that require no identification, have already been identified, or are assumed to be known.
Grammatical Markers: Unlike defining clauses, they are almost always marked off by commas (or pauses in speech).
Omission Restriction: In non-defining relative clauses, the relative pronoun cannot be omitted. They always require an overt relativizer to maintain the descriptive link to the head noun.
Core Functions: - Additional Information: They provide supplementary data that is not essential for identifying the referent. If omitted, the sentence remains grammatically complete and the referent uniquely identifiable. - Ad-nominal Adjunct: "My brother, who is a doctor, came to see my sister that is a nurse." - Sentential Adjunct: The antecedent is the entire preceding clause. The adjunct is not part of the previous clause’s predicate. (If it modified only the verb, it would be an adverbial adjunct; here it modifies the sentence). - Example 1: "Angel got here late, which is odd." - Example 2: "Aldosivi lost against River, which surprised no one."
Introduction by Relativizers: - When: "1996, when I was born, the Sharks won the Stanley Cup." - Where: "Argentina, where Messi was born, is a beautiful country." - Who: "Yesterday I met my bank manager, who was in an uncompromising mood." - Whom: "This man, whom Elethia never saw, opened a locally famous restaurant." - Which: "He looked into her mailbox, which she never locked." - Whose: "Mr Kovac – whose career includes a stint as an economic advisor to Cuban leader Fidel Castro…" - That: Used rarely, but provided in example: "…the yellow, stained wall [with all the spots which dead bugs, that had once crawled, had left]."

Reduction of Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Definition: These are non-finite or verbless clauses providing supplementary information.
Types of Reduction: - -ing Participle Clause: "The old car, trailing black smoke, drove off towards town" (Reduced from which was trailing…). - -ed Participle Clause: "The Pope, warned not to go to Poland, decided to visit France instead" (Reduced from who was warned…). - Adjective Phrase: "The Duke, resplendent in his uniform, led his army to victory." - Appositive Noun Phrase: "Heiko, a 19-year-old factory worker" (Often analyzed as a reduced non-restrictive clause).

Absolute Constructions and Nominative Absolutes

Definition: A non-finite or verbless clause that contains its own overt subject, which is separate from the main clause subject.
Characteristics: - They are often called "nominative absolutes" because if the subject is a pronoun, it must be in the nominative case. - They are typically attached to a sentence but separated by commas. - They are not introduced by a subordinator (No "big PRO" subject).
Examples by Form: - -ING Participle Form: - "The day being cloudy, we decided to stay at home." - "The streets being completely empty, Jackie preferred to take a cab." - "Weather permitting, we will have the party outside." - "I refusing to go, Nicholas went alone." - -ED Participle Form: - "The song finished, he switched off the radio." - "The two women, their business concluded, retired to the bar." - "Present company excepted, I think most people agree." - "The women crushed against the doors, the fight to board the train repeated itself." - Verbless: - "The platform empty once more, I settled down for the night." - "She gazed down at the floor, face clouded."

Reduced Adverbial Clauses and the Attachment Rule

The Attachment Rule: The unexpressed (implied) PRO subject of the reduced clause must have the same referent as the subject of the main clause.
Correct Reduction Examples: - Ing Participle Clause (Concurrent actions): "Biting her lip, she gazed down at the floor" (Reduced from As she was biting her lip…). - -ed Participle Clause (Passive/Concession): "Although injured, he struggled on" (Reduced from Although he was injured…). - To-infinitive Clause (Purpose/Result): "I borrowed a portable phone to ring Waterloo." - Verbless Clause: Occurs when the verb be and the subject are omitted, leaving a subordinator and a complement. - "If possible, make it Thursday." - "When in difficulty, think of a good life." - Correct Subject Alignment: "Leaving the road, they went into the deep resin-scented darkness." (The subject they is the one leaving the road).

Dangling Participles

Definition: A "dangling" or "loose" participle is a violation of the Attachment Rule.
Consequences: This results in interpretations that are often absurd or nonsensical if taken literally, because the implied subject of the participle is incorrectly linked to the main clause subject.
Comparative Case Study: - Correct: "Leaving the road, they went into the deep resin-scented darkness." - Dangling: "Leaving the road, the deep resin-scented darkness of the trees surrounded them."
Analysis of Failure: In the dangling example, because the subject of the main clause is "darkness," the grammar implies that the darkness itself was the entity that left the road.