It’s All Relative (Clauses)

Abstract

Are you baffled by when to use which and when to use that? When is it okay to drop that? When should you say who (vs whom), and when should you say whoever (vs whomever)? This article explains the grammar and usage of relative clauses and noun clauses. Like other clauses, a relative clause has its own subject and predicate. However, the relative clause serves as an adjective, modifying a noun in some other clause. The relative clause is linked to its referent by a relative pronoun (eg, that, who/whom, which, or whose). Similarly, an adverb clause can be introduced by a relative adverb (eg, when, where, why). The words that serve as relative pronouns and relative adverbs can also serve as complementizers. A complementizer is a word that creates a noun clause that serves as a subject or object in some other clause. Knowing these principles can help you untangle long, complicated sentences. Thus, you can make your text more readable. A sentence diagramming app can help you visualize and understand the syntactical relationships.