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Collins Cobuild English Grammar (153 page)

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8.81
You sometimes want to say that something is done in the way that it would be done if something were the case. You do this by using
as if
or
as though
. You use a past tense in the clause of manner.

He holds his head forward
as if
he
has hit
it too often on low doorways.
Presidents can’t dispose of companies
as if
people
didn’t exist
.
I put some water on my clothes to make it look
as though
I
had been
sweating.
He behaved
as though
it
was
nothing to be ashamed of.

You also use
as if
or
as though
after linking verbs such as
feel
or
look
. You do this when you are comparing someone’s feelings or appearance to the feelings or appearance they would have if something were the case.

She felt
as if
she
had
a fever.
His hair looked
as if
it
had been combed
with his fingers.
Her pink dress and her frilly umbrella made her look
as though
she had
come
to a garden party.

In formal English,
were
is sometimes used instead of
was
in clauses beginning with
as if
or
as though
.

She shook as if she
were
crying, but she made no sound.
I felt as if I
were
the centre of the universe.
You talk as though he
were
already dead.

You can use
just
in front of
as if
or
as though
for emphasis.

He shouldn’t have left her alone,
just as if
she was someone of no importance at all.

8.82
You can also use
as if
and
as though
in clauses that begin with a
to
-infinitive or a participle.

For a few moments, he sat
as if
stunned.
He ran off to the house
as if
escaping.
He shook his head
as though
dazzled by his own vision.

You can also use
as if
and
as though
in front of adjectives and prepositional phrases.

One must row steadily onwards
as if
intent on one’s own business.
He shivered
as though
with cold.

Relative clauses

8.83
When you mention someone or something in a sentence, you often want to give further information about them. One way to do this is to use a
relative clause
.

You put a relative clause immediately after the noun that refers to the person, thing, or group you are talking about.

The man
who came into the room
was small and slender.
Opposite is St. Paul’s Church,
where you can hear some lovely music
.

Relative clauses have a similar function to adjectives, and they are sometimes called
adjectival clauses
.

Nominal relative clauses
, which have a similar function to noun phrases, are explained in paragraphs
8.112
to
8.116
.

relative pronouns

8.84
Many relative clauses begin with a
relative pronoun
. The relative pronoun usually acts as the subject or object of the verb in the relative clause.

He is the only person
who
might be able to help.
Most of them have a job,
which
they take both for the money and the company.

Here is a list of the most common relative pronouns:

that

which

who

whom

whose

Relative pronouns do not have masculine, feminine, or plural forms. The same pronoun can be used to refer to a man, a woman, or a group of people.

She didn’t recognize the man
who
had spoken.
I met a girl
who
knew Mrs Townsend.
There are many people
who
find this intolerable.

Some relative clauses do not have a relative pronoun.

Nearly all the people
I used to know
have gone.

This is explained in paragraphs
8.90
,
8.91
, and
8.96
.

types of relative clause

8.85
There are two types of relative clause.

Some relative clauses explain which person or thing you are talking about. For example, if you say
I met the woman
, it might not be clear who you mean, so you might say,
I met the woman who lives next door
. In this sentence,
who lives next door
is called a
defining relative clause
.

Shortly after the shooting, the man
who had done it
was arrested.
Mooresville is the town
that John Dillinger came from
.

Other relative clauses give further information that is not needed to identify the person, thing, or group you are talking about. For example, if you say
I saw Miley Cyrus
, it is clear who you mean. But you might want to add more information about Miley Cyrus, so you might say, for example,
I saw Miley Cyrus, who was staying at the hotel opposite
. In this sentence,
who was staying at the hotel opposite
is called a
non-defining relative clause
.

He was waving to the girl,
who was running along the platform
.
He walked down to Broadway, the main street of the town,
which ran parallel to the river
.

This type of relative clause is used mainly in writing rather than speech.

Note that you cannot begin a non-defining relative clause with
that
.

punctuation

8.86
A relative clause that simply gives extra information usually has a comma in front of it and a comma after it, unless it is at the end of a sentence, in which case you just put a full stop. Dashes are sometimes used instead of commas.

My son,
who is four
, loves Spiderman.

You never put a comma or a dash in front of a defining relative clause.

The woman
who owns this cabin
will come back in the autumn.

use after pronouns

8.87
Relative clauses that distinguish one noun from all others can be used after some pronouns.

They are used after
indefinite pronouns
such as
someone
,
anyone
, and
everything
.

This is
something that I’m very proud of
.
In theory
anyone who lives or works in the area
may be at risk.
We want to thank
everyone who supported us through this
.

They are sometimes used after
some
,
many
,
much
,
several
,
all
, or
those
.

Like
many who met him
I was soon in love.
…the feelings of
those who have suffered from the effects of crime
.

They can also be used after
personal pronouns
, but only in formal or old-fashioned English.

He who is not for reform
is against it.
…
we who are supposed to be so good at writing
.

-ing
participle clauses

8.88
Relative clauses can sometimes be reduced to
-ing
participle clauses.

For example, instead of saying
Give it to the man who is wearing the sunglasses
, you can say
Give it to the man wearing the sunglasses
. Similarly, instead of saying
The bride, who was smiling happily, chatted to the guests
, you can say
The bride, smiling happily, chatted to the guests
.

These uses are explained in paragraphs
8.129
to
8.145
. See also paragraphs
2.300
and
2.301
.

Using relative pronouns in defining clauses

8.89
The following paragraphs explain which pronouns you use in
defining relative clauses
.

referring to people

8.90
When you are referring to a person or group of people, you use
who
or
that
as the
subject
of a defining clause.
Who
is more common than
that
.

The man
who
employed me was called Tom.
…the people
who
live in the cottage.
…somebody
who
is really ill.
…the man
that
made it.

You use
who
,
that
, or
whom
as the
object
of a defining clause, or you do not use a pronoun at all.

…someone
who
I haven’t seen for a long time.
…a woman
that
I dislike.
…distant relatives
whom
he had never seen.
…a man I know.

You use
that
as the
complement
of a defining clause, or you do not use a pronoun.

…the distinguished actress
that
she later became.
Little is known about the kind of person she was.

After a
superlative
, you do not usually use a pronoun.

He was the cleverest man I ever knew. …the best thing I ever did.

For more information about
superlatives
see paragraphs
2.112
to
2.122
.

referring to things

8.91
When you are referring to a thing or group of things, you use
which
or
that
as the
subject
of a defining clause.
That
is much more common than
which
in American English.