|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Message board > Relative clauses
Relative clauses
|
Allisa
|
Relative clauses
|
I need your opinion about the relative clauses in these two sentences:
My neighbour whose flat is above mine makes a lot of noise walking around.
My neighbour who comes from Ecuador works on the fruit farms around the city.
Are the relative clauses in both cases defining?
I think that if the person speaking has two neighbours or more, the relative clauses give information which is necessary for identifying the person he is talking about (i.e. they are defining). But I �m confused because the sources where I found these sentences tell the first one is defining and the second is non-defining (My neighbour, who comes from Ecuador, works on the fruit farms around the city.) What do you think?
|
4 Oct 2009
|
|
|
|
mjpa
|
|
From my point of view, both sentences are non defining relative ones since they add additional information about the subject, so they should go in between commas.
My neighbour, whose flat is above mine, makes.........
My neghbour, who comes ............, ................ |
4 Oct 2009
|
|
|
arkel
|
|
I agree with mjpa. The fact the sentence starts with �my � tells us who the neighbour is and so the other information is extra. If it started with �the �, then the information would be necessary and so would not have comments.
My neighbour, whose flat is above mine, makes a lot of noise walking around.
My neighbour, who comes from Ecuador, works on the fruit farms around the city.
The neighbour whose flat is above mine makes a lot of noise walking around.
The neighbour who comes from Ecuador works on the fruit farms around the city.
Hope this helps:) |
4 Oct 2009
|
|
|
serene
|
|
Dear Allisa
In the first sentence: A defining clause would mean I have more than one neighbours, who live in the flats next to, above or below mine and it is necessary to specify which of them makes a lot of noise. A non defining clause would either mean I only have one neighbour and this neighbour lives in the flat above mine, or I have previously made clear which neighbour I �m talking about and now I only add some extra information about him.
In the second sentence: A defining clause would mean I have more than one neighbours and it is necessary to specify which of them works on the fruit farms. A non defining clause would mean either I only have one neighbour and this neighbour comes from Ecuador, or I have previously made clear which neighbour I �m talking about and now I only add some extra information about him.
Hoping I haven �t confused you even more.
Regards
serene |
4 Oct 2009
|
|
|
manuelanunes3
|
|
Hi
I think both sentences are non-defining clauses.
My neighbour, whose flat is above mine, makes a lot of noise walking around.
My neighbour, who comes from Ecuador, works on the fruit farms around the city.
What comes between commas in the middle part of the sentence is not defining anything, it is just adding information. You could have the sentences like this:
My neighbour makes a lot of noise walking around.
My neighbour works on the fruit farms around the city.
If you had the sentences without the middle part of the sentence they would still make sense, so they are non-defining.
|
4 Oct 2009
|
|
|
Allisa
|
Thank you, Serene, Mjpa, Arkel and Manuelanunes3.
Serene, you haven �t confused me more. Actually I totally agree with your explanation. That �s what I hoped to read. Thanks again!
Manuelanunes3, here is an example of a defining relative clause:
The man who died of a heart attack smoked forty cigarettes a day.
The man smoked forty cigarettes a day. It still makes sense but I can´t agree that who died of a hearth attack gives additional information and it is not necessary for identifying the person. When I´m teaching this grammar point to my students I always tell them that if you start your sentence with "the man" it can be any man and whatever you add it is necessary and the clause is definite.
And I think it´s the same with this "neighbour"  . If I have more than one neighbour, whatever I say about "my neighbour" it will help the listener/reader to recognize him.
|
4 Oct 2009
|
|
|
