1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:05,639 Speaker 1: This podcast, which I produce for you each week, is 2 00:00:05,679 --> 00:00:10,960 designed to help you improve your English. I'm sure that 3 00:00:11,199 --> 00:00:15,119 English learners who listen to the Happy English Podcast can 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:20,000 find something useful in each episode. Did you notice those 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:27,839 relative clauses let's discuss. 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from 7 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,960 New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael all. 8 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:40,359 Speaker 1: Rye, Thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here 9 00:00:40,399 --> 00:00:44,640 from Happy English and I help people speak English better. 10 00:00:45,119 --> 00:00:50,679 And this is Happy English Podcast Episode seven seventy three. 11 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,640 Relative clauses. So today I thought I would take a 12 00:00:56,679 --> 00:01:01,600 look into relative clauses and just kind of go through 13 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,840 everything that you might need to know about them. We're 14 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,280 going to start out simple and then build to great excitement. 15 00:01:11,359 --> 00:01:17,280 First of all, like, what are relative clauses? In a nutshell, 16 00:01:18,079 --> 00:01:22,239 relative clauses are kind of like these little phrases that 17 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,719 we add into our sentences to give us extra information 18 00:01:27,159 --> 00:01:32,239 about a noun, so like bonus information about a noun. 19 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:38,239 And they're really useful for like adding detail and making 20 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:44,000 your sentences more interesting. And there are two different types 21 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,799 of relative clauses. Let's start with a situation. Imagine you're 22 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,719 talking to a friend about someone you met on your 23 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,760 last trip to New York. And then you say, I 24 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,799 met a woman who does make amazing magic tricks. Listen 25 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:07,640 to that again, I met a woman who does amazing 26 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,199 magic tricks. Did you catch the second part of that sentence? 27 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,560 I said I met a woman, and then I said, 28 00:02:17,199 --> 00:02:23,319 who does amazing magic tricks? That second part, who does 29 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:28,680 amazing magic tricks. That's a relative clause. This relative clause 30 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,919 gives us more information about the woman. In particular, This 31 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:39,199 kind of relative clause is called a defining relative clause 32 00:02:39,719 --> 00:02:43,759 because it defines the noun that comes before it. It 33 00:02:43,879 --> 00:02:49,080 describes that noun I met a woman who does amazing 34 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:54,479 magic tricks. Now we have details about the woman I met. 35 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:59,039 Here's another one. The man who lives next door to 36 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,919 me has a very very loud voice. It's true, actually, 37 00:03:03,439 --> 00:03:06,639 And now you know about him. The man who lives 38 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:11,080 next door has a very loud voice. Now you know 39 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,759 about the woman I met and the man who lives 40 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,599 next door. And by the way, the book which you 41 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:25,000 lent me is fantastic. What book the book which you 42 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,800 lent me? What man? The man who lives next door? 43 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:35,159 What woman? A woman who does amazing magic tricks. Again. 44 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,879 These are called defining relative clauses because they define or 45 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,960 identify the noun that comes before them. But there's one 46 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,919 more kind of relative clause, like, my aunt who lives 47 00:03:50,919 --> 00:03:57,520 in Brooklyn makes the best lasagna. Yum, my aunt totally 48 00:03:57,599 --> 00:04:03,639 makes the best lasagna. Which aunt? You might ask me, Oh, 49 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:08,639 my aunt who lives in Brooklyn makes the best lasagna. 50 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:14,360 This part who lives in Brooklyn gives us extra information 51 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:19,120 about my aunt. We know it's my aunt, and who 52 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:24,000 lives in Brooklyn gives us extra information about her. This 53 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:29,560 part who lives in Brooklyn is not absolutely necessary, but 54 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:34,519 it's giving us extra information, so it's like a bonus. 55 00:04:34,879 --> 00:04:39,160 It's a bonus detail, right, she lives in Brooklyn and 56 00:04:39,319 --> 00:04:45,040 she makes the best lasagna. And these bonus detail clauses, 57 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:50,680 they're called non defining relative clauses. They just give us 58 00:04:50,879 --> 00:04:54,959 extra information. And you might have noticed that when I 59 00:04:55,199 --> 00:04:59,800 say that, I kind of paused a little. My aunt 60 00:05:00,319 --> 00:05:04,759 who lives in Brooklyn makes the best lasagna. You hear 61 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:10,439 the pauses when you write these non defining relative clauses. 62 00:05:10,879 --> 00:05:15,519 You use a comma before and after them to show 63 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:21,240 that pause. Jenny, who works in accounting, is also a 64 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:26,680 semi pro golfer. The car which Jack crashed into a 65 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,639 tree was in nineteen eighty Chevy. Did you hear the pauses? 66 00:05:32,399 --> 00:05:37,560 So let's review where we are so far. Defining relative 67 00:05:37,639 --> 00:05:42,160 clauses define the noun. The man who fixed my car 68 00:05:42,439 --> 00:05:47,600 did a great job. We need who fixed my car? 69 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,879 Who fixed my car is essential information. Otherwise we don't 70 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,600 know which man we are talking about. If I don't 71 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,839 use the relative clause, we have this the man did 72 00:06:00,079 --> 00:06:06,560 a great job. The man did a great job. Which man, Ah, 73 00:06:06,639 --> 00:06:12,120 the man who fixed my car. See, these defining relative 74 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:16,040 clauses are essential and the sentence would be vague or 75 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:21,800 unclear without them. Or if I say the book is fantastic, 76 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:28,680 you'd be wondering, Oh, Michael, what book are you talking about? Ah? 77 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:34,720 The book which you lent me is fantastic. Essential information 78 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,920 right there. Huh. On the other hand, those non defining 79 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:45,279 relative clauses give us more or extra information about the noun. 80 00:06:46,199 --> 00:06:49,519 They are like a side dish. They are good to know, 81 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,759 but not crucial to the main story. Like I wanted 82 00:06:53,759 --> 00:06:56,720 to tell you that my aunt makes the best lasagna, 83 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,920 and when I say my aunt who live in Brooklyn, 84 00:07:01,519 --> 00:07:06,399 makes the best lasagna. Well, now you have additional information 85 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,920 about my aunt. Not only does she make amazing lasagnia, 86 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:15,079 but she lives in Brooklyn. That's extra information about her, 87 00:07:15,839 --> 00:07:20,079 not essential, but nice to know. And if I don't 88 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:25,000 say that, the sentence still makes sense. My aunt makes 89 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,680 the best lasagna, clear as day. Who I'm talking about 90 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,879 my aunt? And one last point. When you have a 91 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,959 defining relative clause like I was looking for the wire 92 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:45,120 which is connected to the printer, you can substitute that 93 00:07:46,079 --> 00:07:50,600 for who or which I was looking for the wire 94 00:07:51,199 --> 00:07:55,160 that is connected to the printer. But in a non 95 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:01,680 defining relative clause like Jenny who works accounting is also 96 00:08:01,879 --> 00:08:07,439 a semi pro golfer. You can't replace who or which 97 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:13,000 with that. I can't say Jenny that works in accounting 98 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:18,639 is also a semi pro golfer. Remember the conversational pauses 99 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,519 and the commas when you write those sentences. If you 100 00:08:23,759 --> 00:08:30,040 use commas, you can't use that. This is a handy 101 00:08:30,079 --> 00:08:33,120 tip if you're taking one of those English exams like 102 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:39,159 toek Tofel or Aisles, and keep in mind the best 103 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:42,399 way to remember grammar like this and any other word 104 00:08:42,519 --> 00:08:46,039 or phrase in English is to take that word or phrase, 105 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,320 write it in a sentence that's true for you or 106 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,480 true in your world, and then memorize your sentences and 107 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,840 check this out. Do you want to get more experience 108 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,600 speaking English, Well, well you can get the chance to 109 00:09:01,639 --> 00:09:04,879 practice this kind of English with me directly. That's right. 110 00:09:05,759 --> 00:09:08,600 You can get more practice using your English when you 111 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:13,240 join my podcast Learner's study Group. There you can make 112 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,840 new friends, join us for live group lessons every week 113 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:22,039 where we practice these podcast lessons together. Plus you get 114 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:26,240 access to the pdf, transcript and audio download for every 115 00:09:26,279 --> 00:09:30,000 Happy English podcast in the past and in the future. 116 00:09:30,279 --> 00:09:34,240 And on top of that, each episode has exercises where 117 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,720 you can practice this English point with speaking and writing 118 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:42,159 checked by me. To learn more, just visit Myhappy English 119 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:47,559 dot com and choose podcast lesson seven seventy three. 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