Relative clauses (vztažné věty)

A. DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

• Is that the woman who / that wants to buy your car?
• animate noun (životné podst.jm.)

→The relative clause identifies the woman, it says which woman is meant.

• This is the book that / which(subject- podmět) won the prize.
• inanimate noun (neživotné podst. jm.)
  • He´s a man whom(object) people(subject) like ar first sight.
  • This is very formal and used in written English,

-in spoken English, an object pronoun is left out:

• He is a man people like at the first sight.
• The people with whom he worked thought him rather strange. – WR.E.
• The people he worked for thought him rather strange. – SP.E.
• I´ve just spoken to the woman whose son broke our window.
• We´re in a classroom the window of which look out on the heating plant. – formal
• We´re in a classroom whose…

WHO        ×      THAT

(animate)          (inanimate)

 „That“ is preferred after indefinite ponouns: few, all, much, little, only, superlatives, some(thing), any(thing), no(thing), every(thing)

• Tohle je něco, co mě překvapuje.
• This is something that surprises me. – nesmíme použít “what“!!!

B. NON – DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

• I´ve just met Mrs.Parkinson, who sends her regards.
  • !informace navíc!
• Můžeme rozdělit: I´ve just met Mrs.Parkinson. She sends you her regards(by the way).
• This relative clause doesn´t identify the person( She´s already been identified by her name). Such relative clause only adds some additional information. In writting it is separated by a comma, in speech by a pause.
  • My daughter who is 20 teaches biology. = mám víc dcer
  • My daughter,who is 20,teaches biology. = „who is 20“ – additional information – „by the way“- 1 dcera
  • Our house, which we bought five years ago, has a large garden.
  • The tall man, whom none of us recognized(object pronoun), turned out to be Pat´s husband.
  • She spoke about her latest book, of which none of us had heard.
  • This is Jack, whose sister is staying with us.
  • It´s a family of five children, all of whom study medicine. (z nichž všichni)
  • I tried on five pairs of shoes, none of which fitted.
  • I watched the play till the end of the first act, at which moment(v kterémžto momentu) I felt I had seen enough.

WHEN, WHERE

• This is the street where I live.
• Come at 3, when I´ll have more time.
• There is hardly a day when I don´t think of you.
• We stopped in Brighton, where she owns a shop.
• He tore up her photo, which upset her.
  • this relative clause refers to the fact expressed in the preceding sentence(komentář předcházející věty)

WHAT- nevztahuje se ke vztažným větám !!!

• To, co říká, není pravda. → What he says is not true.
• Nevím, co říká. – vv předmětná → I don´t know what he says.

Dodatky:

• Dají mu vše, co si bude přát. He will be given everything/ anything (that) he asks for.
• Will you be able to come? I wonder if you will be able to come. I´ll be interested to know if you are able to come.
• When will you come? – when – význam „kdy“
• × Let me know when you will come. – when – ve významu  „až“
• The travellers_(I) who knew about the floods _(I) took another road.