138 The relative pronoun as object
A. Subject and object
‘Harriet is showing David her holiday photos.
Harriet: That's an old castle that we visited on holiday. And those are some people we met, a couple who were
staying at the campsite.
David: Mi. They look very friendly
A relative pronoun such as who or that can be the subject of a relative clause.
Harrier talked to a couple who were staying at the camp-site. (Theyi were
staying at the camp-site.)
The postcard that came this morning was.from Harriet. (
Tt came this morning.)
A relative pronoun can also be the object of a relative clause.
‘Mike and Harriet are visiting
woman who they met on holiday.
(They met heron holiday.)
The old castle that we visited was really interesting.
(We visited it. )
‘We do not use another pronoun like her or it with the relative pronoun. NOT
awomemwho-thepmether NOT -the old castle that we-visited it
B Leaving out the relative pronoun
‘We can leave ont the selative pronoun when it is the object of the relative clause. We do this especially in
spoken English. Compare these examples.
WITHOUT OBJECT PRONOUN
WITH ORECT PRONOUN,
The man who Vieky sav at the concert is Sarah's The mem Vieky saw atthe concert is Sarah's
boss. boss.
That's an old castle that we visited. ‘That's an old castle we visited,
Here are some more examples of relative clauses without an object pronoun, Fe
don’t Inow the name of the person the police are questioning. The cakes
Melanie baked were delicious. That jacket you're wearing is falling to pieces,
Mike.
‘Remember that we cannot leave out a pronoun when it is the subject of a relative clause.
The man who spoke to Vicky is Sarah's boss.
C Who and whom
In formal English, whom is sometimes used when the object of the relative clause is a person. The
‘person who/whom the police were questioning has now been released. But in conversation whom is
not very common.i
138 Exercises
Subject and object (A)
‘Comment on the conversations. Add s sentence with who or that as the subject of the underlined part.
D She's Tom's new gislfiiend. ~ Who is? ~ That gisl. She just said hello.
‘That's sight. The girl who just said hello is Tom's new givffrrend.
1 The dog has been rescued. ~ What dog? ~ It fall down a hale.
Haven't you heard? The
‘The story was untrue. ~ What story? ~ You know. It upset evervane.
Yes the.
3. He'sa film producer. ~ Who is? ~ That man. He interviewed Notashs.
That's what I heard. The 7
‘Now comment on these conversations. Add a sentence with who or thar as the object of the underlined past.
4 The accident wasn't very setious, ~ What accident? ~ Oh, Daniel saw it.
Yethe .
5 Hea millionaire. ~ Who is? ~ That man, Claire knows him.
Ws tue, The...
6 The vase was extremely valuable. ~ What vase? ~ You lanow. David buoke it
‘That's right. The
7 W's really nice. ~ What is? ~ The jacket. Melanie wore it at the party.
Yes. itis. The oe on -
2 Leaving out the relative pronoun (B)
‘Complete the script for these TV advertisements. Use a relative clause without a pronoun.
whee
> Fresho soap, Beautiful people use it 1s the sosp becutl people se
‘An Everyman ear. You can afford it.
‘Hijack’. People want to see this film,
Greenway Supermarket. You can trust it
‘Cool! magazine. Young people read it.
Jupiter chocolates. You'll love them...
3 Leaving out the relative pronoun (B)
Look carefully at these sentences. Are they correct without a relative pronoun? Where you see *, you may
need to put in who, which or that. Write the sentences and putin a pronown only if you have to
The man * paid for the meal was a friend of Tom's.
, ‘The man who paid for the meal was a friend of Tom's.
The meeting * Mark had to attend went on for thres hours.
The meeting Mark had to attend went on for three hours.
‘Somewhere I've got a photo of the mountain * we climbed.
‘The man * repaired my ear is a real expert.
The detective lost sight of the man * he was following.
I thought I recognized the assistant * served us.
I'm afraid the numbers * I chose didn't win a prize,139 Prepositions in relative clauses
Introduction
A relative pronoun (e.g. that) can be the object of a eae
preposition (e.g. for). ww sometine
This ts the bus that Pve been waiting for.
Ive been waiting for the bus.
Wenarmaly xo tote nestearanc: il
In informal spoken English we normally put the
preposition at the end of the relative clause,
Compare the word order.
STATEMENT RELATIVE CLAUSE
Tse been waiting for the bus. the bus that I’ve been waiting for
We go tw the restaurant. the restaurant thai we go 10
‘We do not use another pronoun like it or her after the preposition, NOT
therestsuranetharie goto NOT somecnesthio /weHewith her
Leaving out the pronoun
We ofien leave out the relative pronoun when itis the object of a preposition.
WITH OBIECT PRONOUN WITHOUT OBJECT PRONOUN
The bus that I'm waiting for is late. The bus I'm waiting for is late.
Is this the article which you were interested in? Is this the article you were interested in?
That's the man who Twas talking about. That's the man Twas tatking about.
Here are some more examples of relative clauses without an object pronoun.
/ cant remember the name of the hotel we stayed at. This ts the colour we've
finally decided on. The shop I got my stereo from has lots of bargains.
A preposition at the beginning
These examples are typical of formal English.
Was that the restaurant to which you normailly go?
Electronics is a subject about which Iknow very little.
The Sales Manager is the person from whom 1 obtained the figures. Here the preposition
comes at the beginning of the relative clause, before which or whom.
‘We cannot put a preposition before that or who.
a subject (that) Fknow little about NOT esubject—abont that Heow tile
the person (who) I got the figures from NOT éhe-personfrom-wheTgot-ihe figures
138C Whom139 Exercises
1 A preposition at the end (A-B)
‘What are they saying? Put in sentences with a preposition at the end.
> (Mark has been looking for this letter.) This is the letter I've been looking for.
(Rachel was talking about that film.)
(Laura has decided on this wallpaper).
(Matthew played tennis with that man.)
(David fell down those steps)...
or Be
A preposition at the end (A-B)
Match the phrases and write the definitions. Put the preposition at the end of the relative clause.
> akitchen a cupboard ‘you hit nails with it
1 ahammer the person you keep valuable things in it
2 yourdestination apiece of furniture _you cook in it
3 Asaf the place you can cither sit or sleep on it
4 your opponent a room ‘you're going to it
5 asofabed a tool ‘you're playing against them
Akitchen is a room you cookin.
1
2
3
4
3
3 A preposition at the beginning (C)
Ir’ election time. All the politicians are arguing.
Rewrite the first sentence using a preposition at the beginning of a relative elause
P Teannot agree with that statement. [hope I've made thet clear. Thar is a
statement with which I cannot agree.
1 Our party believes in that idea. I say this from the bottom of my heart.
Tam strongly opposed to that policy. And I am not afiaid to say so...
3 Noone cares about these people. They are the forgotten people.
4 Your party should be ashamed of those mistakes, And everyone knows that.
5 The govemment is now dealing with that problem. How many times do I have to tell you?Describing Films
Which of these words would you use to describe a film you like?
Which words would describe a film you don't like? Which words could do both?
Good funny bad boring sse=xmary exciting interesting ASTOUND-
WHO CLEVER silly Lom@g hilarious spellbinding OFFENSIVE action-
Packed ronnie FUTURISTIC classic superb SiaBoficaf cheesy annoying cool
recommended ENJOYABLE predictable original ridiculous MIND-BOGGLING
crazy
Films you like are...
Films you don't
like are...
Can you think of any other words to include?The Parts of a Film
Story / Plot
The story or plot is what happens in the film
Words to describe: unpredictable / predictable, original, full of twists,
realistic / unrealistic, complicated, simplistic.
Characters
Characters are the people who the film is about
Words to describe: funny, nice, mean, happy, miserable, cute...
Actors
Actors are the real-life people who play the characters
Words to describe: talented, convincing / unconvincing, versatile...
Director
‘The director is the person who makes all the big decisions about how a
film is made
Words to describe:
alented, famous, skilful...
Scenery
Scenery is what is the background of a film - this could be the furniture in a room or
the surrounding landscape
Words to describe: beautiful, ugly, spectacular, cinematic, city, country,
recognisable, foreign, fantastical, colourful
Style
The style is the overall feel of a film, the result of a combination of all the other parts
Words to describe: comedy, horror, romantic, scary, magical, actionpacked,
adventure, old-fashioned, futuristic.
Can you think of any more words to describe the parts of a film?
What Makes A Good Film Review?
A good film review should do three things:
1. INFORM
- Summarise - Give a brief explanation of the plot (but don't give away the end-
ing or any surprise plot twists, that's called a “spoiler’) e.g.“New kid at school
Will (Gaelan Connell) is roped into managing a band by the chirpy lead singer”
+ The Talent - Tell the reader who the director, writer and actors are (have a look
on www.imdb.com, if you're not sure) and give some relevant background infor-
mation e.g. “Disney Channel alumnus Alyson Michalka”... “HSM grad Vanessa
Hudgens’ “Todd Graf's slicker follow-up to Camp”
* Contextualise - Put the film in context — tell the reader about the genre of the
film or other similar films. e.g.“It was wholly inevitable and now it's arrived... the
first wave of High School Musical imitators.”2. ENTERTAIN
- Deseribe - Use your language to recreate for the reader the experience of
watching the film. You can use similes, metaphors, puns and adject
funny! Readers love to laugh. e.g.
“Earnest performances — but you can't dance to those, can you?”
- Reference - Help the reader to understand what the film is like by comparing
it to other films they might have seen. This is also a good way to show off your
film knowledge e.g. “It was wholly inevitable and now it’s arrived... the first
wave of High Schoo! Musical imitators.
- Exaggerate - Get your readers excited about the film — either positively or neg-
atively by using ‘hyperbole’ or over-the-top, exaggerated language e.g. “Avatar
has the best special effects since cinema was invented”
3. EVALUATE
- Evaluate - Tell the reader which bits were good and which bits were bad. Also,
did you think it was a good or bad film overall? This is usuallythe last paragraph
or sentence e.g.
“Whether your nine-year-old niece will care about that is moot — but she'll definite-
ly resent the poor ratio of musical numbers to clunky, contrived emotional scenes.
(Nothing like an elderly character's death to spur resolution...)”
- Explain - Don't forget to use your language tools to explain why it was good or
why it was bad (see ‘Describe’) “clunky, contrived...”
+ Rate - How many stars would you give your film (usually out of 5)?
Glossary of Useful Words
director (noun) - the person who directs the making of a film
evaluate (verb) - to judge or calculate the quality, importance, amount or value of
something
genre (noun) - A kind; a stylistic category or sort, especially of literature, film or
other artworks
hyperbole (noun) - intentional exaggeration to create an effect
plot (noun) ~ the story of a film, comprising incidents which are gradually unfold-
ed, sometimes by unexpected means
simile (noun) - a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things
ofdifferent kinds (usually formed with ‘like’ or ‘as’) e.g. ‘the film was as serious as a
heart attack’
spoiler (noun, slang) - Any element of any summary or description of any piece
of that reveals any plot element which will give away the ending (avoid these!)Bandslam (PG)
Some kids at high schoo! getting musical...seem familiar?
TOTAL FILM RATING
BY: Ellen E Jones Jul 28th 2009
Release Date: Aug 14th 2009
Certificate: PG
Starring: Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Lisa Kudrow, David Bowie, Alyson Michalka
Director: Todd Graft
It was wholly inevitable and now it’s arrived... the first wave of High School Musical
imitators.
New kid at school Will (Gaelan Connell) is roped into managing a band by its chirpy
lead singer (Disney Channel alumnus Alyson Michalka). But will leading the group to 2
record contract interfere with Will's romancing of edgy - well, brunette, anyway - out-
sider - Sam (HSM grad Vanessa Hudgens)?
Todd Graff's slicker follow up to Camp sports a respectable set of reference points —
Will listens to The Velvet Underground and David Bowie; Sam loves Evil Dead 2. In
other words, they're not so much modern teenagers as avatars for filmmakers long
past their own adolescence.
Whether your nine year old niece will care about that is moot — but she'll definitely
resent the poor ratio of musical numbers to clunky, contrived emotional scenes. (Noth-
ing like an elderly character's death to spur resolution...)
Earnest performances — but you can't dance to those, can you?