Relatives and Conjunctives

Menonimus

June 18, 2023

Relatives

Mind the underlined words in the following sentences:

The girl who came here is my sister.

The boy whom you helped is my younger brother.

This is the book that I lost.

There is no man but loves his country.

Tell me what you need.

Each of the underlined words i.e. who, whom, that, but and what in the above sentences stands in place of a Noun and also joins clauses or sentences. These are called Relatives. They have the same form for singular and plural number.

The Noun or Pronoun to which a Relative Pronoun is related is called Antecedent. In the above sentences the nouns i.e girl, boy, book and man are Antecedents of the Relatives i.e. who, whom, that, but and what respectively.

The chief Relative Pronouns are: who, that, whom, who, whose, which, and, as, but, etc. Let us illustrate the use of these Relatives as under:

1. ‘Who’, ‘whom’ and ‘whose’ are used for persons:

This is the girl who became first in the debate competition.

The old man whom you saw yesterday is my uncle.

This is the girl whose box was stolen.

2. ‘Which’ is used for animals, things and children:

This is the goat which was bought by Rana. (animal)

He begged the book of me which he needed. (thing)

Feed the baby which is crying. (children)

3. ‘That’ is used for a person, animal and thing:

We invited the old man that often came to our office.

This is the cow that gives milk daily.

All that we need is costly.

4. ‘What’ is used for a thing only. It is used where the antecedent is not expressed:

Rani gave away what they wanted.

I mean what you say.

Ask me what you need.

5. ‘As’ is used as a Relative Pronoun with ‘same and ‘such’:

David is such a man as I respect.

This is the same umbrella as we searched for.

It is as it is.

6. ‘But’ is used as a Relative Pronoun. It bears negative sense:

There is none but Ramesh to attend the meeting.

There is no rose but has thorns.

There is no good man but loves his motherland.

Note: The Relative Pronoun agrees in number and person with its Antecedent. For example:

It is he who is to blame.

It is I who am innocent.

It is you who are guilty.

Note: The Relative Pronoun is often omitted when it is the object of a verb or a preposition:

I know the occasion (on which) they meet each other.

The man (whom) you meet is a novelist.

Relatives and Conjunctives

Conjunctives

Mind the following sentences:

Tell me what it is.

She knows how to drive a car.

Each of the underlined words in the above sentences connects the clauses within the sentence. They are called Conjunctives. The difference between a Relative and a Conjunctive is that the Conjunctive is used as a connective word. It connects sentences or clauses. On the other hand, the Relatives function as a Pronoun in addition to connecting two or more clauses in a sentence. The Relatives have antecedent as noun or pronoun.

The words like how, what, when, who, whose, why, if, whether etc. are used as Conjunctives.

The Conjunctives are used:

1. As as Object to a Verb:

I know how to climb a tree.

He explained what to pursue.

She knows whom to send the book.

2. As a connector of the Object of a Verb and Infinitive:

They remind us when to set off our sail.

He will tell me where to go.

The teacher taught us how to pronounce accurately.

3. As a connector of a Principal Clause and a Sub-ordinate Clause:

This is the book which I lost yesterday.

That is the boy who won the first prize in the debate competition.

I asked him whether he would accept my present.

Relatives and Conjunctives

EXERCISE

1. Complete the following sentences with suitable Relative Pronouns:

(i) He is a boy …………… you can trust. (ii) I know ………. he wants. (iii) Suman is most honest person ………. I meet in the locality. (iv) He is a poor man …….. never rejoices. (v) Tendulkar is a reputed cricket player ………….. India ever produced. (vi) She is the only girl ………… can sing song. (vii) Take ………… you want. (viii) He is the only boy ………… could answer my question. (ix) He may go at any time ……. suits him. (x) I have cutlass with …………. I cut vegetables. (xi) The man …….. you meet is an engineer. (xii) Who is the man ……….. did it? (xiii) I know that day on …………. he visited us.

2. Join the following pair of sentences by suitable Relative Pronoun:

(i) I know the boy. He did it.

(ii) This is the pen. Shila bought it the other day.

(iii) He works hard. He can prosper in life.

(iv) You need something. I shall help you get them.

(v) The guests have come. You invited them.

(vi) William Shakespeare was a great dramatist. His dramas are studied all over the world.

(vii) The news was sad. We heard it yesterday.

(viii) The thief has been caught. He broke into the house.

(ix) Rome is a beautiful city. It is in Italy.

(x) He lives fast. He will die young.

3. Join together each of the following sentences with the Relative Pronoun given in brackets:

(i) Air is made up of many gases. We breathe it. (that)

(ii) He is a patriot. Everybody praises him. (whom)

(iii)The boy broke the window. He will be fined. (who)

(iv) Rebeca works hard. She will shine in life. (who)

(v) Old Delhi bears many historical monuments. Thousands of people visit them every year. (which)

(vi) Chess is a very ancient game. It requires a lot of patience. (which)

(vii) I drank a glass of milk. The milk was sour. (that)

(viii) My friend lives in Culcutta. He has sent me a bundle of books. (who)

(ix) The boy came here yesterday. He is my younger brother. (who)

(x) You will get. You want. (that)

(xi) This is the man. His money bag was stolen. (whose)

(xii) This is the village. We live here. (where) 0 0 0

Relatives and Conjunctives

N.B. The article ‘Relatives and Conjuctives’ originally belongs to the book ‘School English Grammar Part- I‘ by Menonim Menonimus. Relatives and Conjunctives

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Relatives and Conjunctives