Grammar ~21 min of the core left

Write a review

After this lesson you can

I can join two sentences into one and describe a person or a thing in more detail.

Start the lesson Core 19–21 min · steps: 6 · optional: +2

Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.

Grammar

5 min

A relative clause adds a whole description to a noun.

The man who works here is my brother. which man? the one who works here
The hotel which we booked was cheap. which hotel? the one we booked
The film that I saw yesterday was good. which film? the one I saw

Which word to choose:

for
who people
which things and animals
that both (most common in speech)

You can LEAVE OUT the relative word when a new subject comes after it:

The film that I saw = The film I saw I comes after that — you can leave it out
The man who works here a verb comes straight after who — you can't leave it out

The test is simple: if a verb comes straight after the relative word, the word is needed. And then it is the subject itself — you don't need a second one: ✗ The man who he works here.

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Common learner errors

written for your language
1

which for a person

✗ The man which works here

✓ who

or that. French qui, Spanish que and German der work for people and things alike; English chooses by whether it is a person. This is the main mistake of the lesson.

2

The pronoun said twice

✗ The man who he works here

✗ The hotel which we booked it

✓ The man who works here

The hotel which we booked. Arabic and Persian repeat the pronoun in this clause ("the hotel that we booked it"). In English who or which already stands for it.

3

The relative word left out where it is the subject

✗ The man works here is my brother

✓ The man who works here is my brother

Learners who know The film I saw leave the word out everywhere; before a verb you can't.

4

A comma before the clause

✗ The film, that I saw yesterday, was good

✓ The film that I saw yesterday was good

German, Polish and Czech always put a comma here. This English clause has no comma and no pause (see Pronunciation).

Pronunciation

3 min

There is NO pause before a relative clause — you say it together with the noun, as one long group:

The film I saw yesterday was very good. /ðə ˈfɪlm aɪ ˈsɔː ˈjestədeɪ/ — no pause after film

A pause here changes the meaning: it turns the description into an extra remark, and that is a different structure (B1). For now, say it in one piece.

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Text

3 min

We stayed in a small hotel which is near the station. The woman who works at the reception speaks four languages. The room we had was clean and quiet, but the breakfast they serve is terrible. It's a place that I can recommend for one or two nights.

Reading aloud

Exercises

8–10 min

1. Gap fill.

  1. The man works here is my brother
  2. The hotel we booked was cheap
  3. The woman called you is a doctor
Show the answers
who, which, who.

2. Where can you leave out the relative word?

1) The film that I saw yesterday. 2) The man who works here. 3) The book which you gave me.

Show the answers
1 and 3 — you can; 2 — you can't.

3. Join into one sentence.

  1. I know a man. He works in a bank.
  2. We booked a hotel. It was near the station.
Show the answers
I know a man who works in a bank. / I know a man that works in a bank.; We booked a hotel which was near the station. / We booked a hotel that was near the station.

4. Error correction.

  1. The man who he works here.
  2. The man which works here.
  3. The man works here is my brother.
Show the answers
The man who works here. / The man that works here.; The man who works here. / The man that works here.; The man who works here is my brother. / The man that works here is my brother.
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Summary

Covered

  • who
  • which
  • that
  • when you can leave the word out
  • no second subject

Next — lesson 27: "if".

End of the core

The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.

Lesson 63

optional

Vocabulary for your deck

12 words
  • review /rɪˈvjuː/ what you write about a hotel, a film or a product: what was good and what was bad
  • recommend /ˌrekəˈmend/ to tell someone that something is good and they should try it
  • reception /rɪˈsepʃn/ the desk in a hotel where you arrive and get your key
  • serve /sɜːv/ to give people food or drinks (in a café or a hotel)
  • disappointing /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪntɪŋ/ not as good as you hoped
  • excellent /ˈeksələnt/ very, very good
  • service /ˈsɜːvɪs/ how the people in a hotel, shop or café help you
  • staff /stɑːf/ all the people who work in a place
  • view /vjuː/ what you can see from a window or a place
  • helpful /ˈhelpfl/ happy to help
  • value /ˈvæljuː/ how much something is worth; good value — good for its price
  • worth /wɜːθ/ good enough for the money or time it costs (worth a visit)

Writing

Four sentences — a review of a hotel or a café, with two relative clauses.

Example

We stayed in a small hotel which is near the station. The woman who works at the reception speaks four languages. The room we had was clean. It's a place that I can recommend.

Checklist

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Practise this lesson in the other sections

Dictationbased on this lesson Write down what you hear. The check shows every word that differs, and how. Write the dictation Reading aloudbased on this lesson Read the lesson text aloud — speech recognition highlights the words it did not catch. Read the text aloud Reading and listeningA1–C1 Texts at every level with comprehension questions; the transcript opens after you answer. Try it

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