Improving our speaking and writing has to do with how much we know about the language we speak. There is a good reason to study grammar deeper. The present essay intends to do a brief explanation of two interesting and very useful grammar topics: defining and non-defining relative clauses and participle clauses.
First of all, we may distinguish when we use these two types of clauses: defining relative clauses are used when some information is important to specify what is being talked about. On the other hand, non-defining relative clauses are used when this information is not relevant or is only additional. An interesting characteristic is that this last one always uses commas.
Relative clauses are sometimes referred to as adjective clauses. They are constructed by using relative pronouns such as "that", "which", "who", "whom", "whose" etc. in order to refer to people or things in a sentence. It is important to remember that we do not use the relative pronoun "which" to refer to people.
The difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses consists of the meaning and intention that we want to communicate. For example, in the sentence "The artist who was exiled lives in Brazil". Being this a defining relative clause, we do not use commas and the pronoun "who is used to refer specifically to a person who lives in Brazil, who was exiled and is an artist.
Otherwise, if we make it into a non-defining relative clause by inserting commas ("The artist, who was exiled, lives in Brazil") we alter the meaning by saying that the exile is new or extra information, the real intention is to communicate that the artist actually lives in Brazil.
To start talking about participle clauses, which, as we will see, has a connection with the previous subject, it is important to be aware that we can form this type of clause with [-ing] and [-ed] participle verbs forms.
To differentiate, the [-ing] participle clause is used to substitute relative clauses with active verbs. For example: "Students passing the exams shows that they are prepared" instead of "Students who passed the exams show that they are prepared".
On the other hand, when we need to use the passive verbs, we might use [-ed] participle clause in place of a relative clause. For example: "The book, called 'English Morphology', was read by the students ". In this example, the word "called" could be replaced by "which was called".
To conclude, as we already know, language can be very tricky sometimes. Studying deeply how it works in specifics situations and the possibles intentions of the statements that are produced, we might communicate better as social individuals in our daily life and make grammar clear and less difficult for our students, as teachers.
First of all, we may distinguish when we use these two types of clauses: defining relative clauses are used when some information is important to specify what is being talked about. On the other hand, non-defining relative clauses are used when this information is not relevant or is only additional. An interesting characteristic is that this last one always uses commas.
Relative clauses are sometimes referred to as adjective clauses. They are constructed by using relative pronouns such as "that", "which", "who", "whom", "whose" etc. in order to refer to people or things in a sentence. It is important to remember that we do not use the relative pronoun "which" to refer to people.
The difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses consists of the meaning and intention that we want to communicate. For example, in the sentence "The artist who was exiled lives in Brazil". Being this a defining relative clause, we do not use commas and the pronoun "who is used to refer specifically to a person who lives in Brazil, who was exiled and is an artist.
Otherwise, if we make it into a non-defining relative clause by inserting commas ("The artist, who was exiled, lives in Brazil") we alter the meaning by saying that the exile is new or extra information, the real intention is to communicate that the artist actually lives in Brazil.
To start talking about participle clauses, which, as we will see, has a connection with the previous subject, it is important to be aware that we can form this type of clause with [-ing] and [-ed] participle verbs forms.
To differentiate, the [-ing] participle clause is used to substitute relative clauses with active verbs. For example: "Students passing the exams shows that they are prepared" instead of "Students who passed the exams show that they are prepared".
On the other hand, when we need to use the passive verbs, we might use [-ed] participle clause in place of a relative clause. For example: "The book, called 'English Morphology', was read by the students ". In this example, the word "called" could be replaced by "which was called".
To conclude, as we already know, language can be very tricky sometimes. Studying deeply how it works in specifics situations and the possibles intentions of the statements that are produced, we might communicate better as social individuals in our daily life and make grammar clear and less difficult for our students, as teachers.
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