Relative clause

RELATIVE CLAUSE

Relative clauses give essential information to define or to identify the person or thing we are talking about. Obviously, this is only necessary if there is more than one person or thing involved.

Example :

Cats which unafraid of a dog are unusual.

In this sentence we  understand that there are many cats, but it is clear that we are only talking about the ones which are unafraid of a dog.

·         Cats which have three colors are believed to have superstitious power.

In this sentence, it is clear that we just talking about the cats which have three colors.

Relative clause adalah bagian dari kalimat (anak kalimat) yang memberi keterangan kepada orang atau benda yang mendahuluinya. Istilah relative clause sama dengan adjective clause. Disebut adjective clause karena dia menerangkan benda atau orang yang mendahuluinya. Di sebut relative clause karena dia menghubungkan (me-relate) benda atau orang tersebut dengan frasa di belakangnya. Relative clause diawali dengan kata penghubung who, whom, whose, which, that dengan fungsi berikut.

·         Who    :  Menerangkan orang sebagai subject

·         Whom : Menerangkan orang sebagai objek (menggantikan) me, you, as, him, her, them dan it.

·         Whose : Menerangkan orang sebagai pemilik (menggantikan my, your, our, his, her, their, it)

·         Which  :  Menerangkan benda sebagai subjek maupun objek kemudian.

·        That     :  Menerangkan orang atau benda baik sebagai subjek maupun objek.

Contoh :

1.      The fisherman gave us some tunas. He caught a lot of tunas.

The fisherman who caught a lot of tunas gave us some. (subjek)

2.      The farmer was away on holiday. I wanted to see him.

The farmer whom I wanted to see was away on holiday. (objek)

3.      The woman asked me. her bike was lost.

The woman whose bike was lost asked me. (pemilik)

Function of Noun Clouse

1.      The subject of verb    

Ex: What Rina said surprised me.

       Where the man goes every day remains a secret.

2.      The object of verb

Ex: Can you tell me where the boss is.

      Clara didn’t know that Wendy would come to the meeting.

3.      A subject complement

Ex: The winner will be whoever can answer all the question?

 Fred’s mistake was that he came late twice.

4.      An object of preposition

Ex: Mrs. Joe listened carefully to what Mirna said.

 The man will be punished for what he has done.

5.      An adjective complement

Ex: Everybody is sad that the trip was canceled.

       I am afraid that he will change his decision.