Interrogative and relative pronouns

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Planning

• Explanation part I: 

Relative pronouns

• Explanation part II: Interrogative pronouns
  
  

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Relative pronouns

Let's first go over the basics, when do we use 'who', 'whose', 'where', 'that' and 'which'?

You may skip this step and go to slide 9 if this is information you're already familiar with.

Relative pronouns

Use: We use RP (betrekkelijke voornaamwoorden) to refer to people, things and animals, places and to indicate that someone or something possesses something 

Who

We use this RP to refer to people 

This is the man who always walks around town with a paper bag over his head.

Whose

We use this RP to indicate that someone/something possesses* something else.

Whose money is this? 

* translation verb: bezitten

Which

We use this RP to refer to animals or things.

This is a picture of our dog, which we recently adopted from a shelter.

That

This RP may sometimes be used instead of who (for people) and which (for animals/things). 

I loathe people that / who constantly make fun of others.

The speech that / which my classmate gave at the graduation ceremony was brilliant.

Where

We use this RP when we want to refer to an actual place.

Until I went on holiday to Seoul, South Korea, I didn't know where it was located on the world map.

That was the easy part.  

It gets more difficult when you become aware of the fact that RPs who and that are also dependent of the type of sentence they're in.

Task: Compare these two sentences:

1 My sister, who loves cooking, is going to participate in the annual marathon.

2 My sister who loves cooking is going to participate in the annual marathon

Do you notice a difference in meaning? 

You were right if you thought: 'Yes, there is a difference.'

The first sentence consists of a non-defining relative clause and the second of a defining relative clause.

In Dutch: In de eerste zin bevat het gele stuk tekst (bijzin met niet-noodzakelijke informatie) extra informatie over jouw zus die mee gaat doen aan de marathon.  

In de tweede zin bevat het zwarte stuk tekst (bijzin met noodzakelijke informatie) essentiële informatie. De spreker geeft namelijk  specifiek aan dat zijn/haar zus die van koken houdt  mee gaat doen aan de marathon (dit wordt gedaan om verwarring te voorkomen met een andere broer/zus)

1 My sister, who loves cooking, is going to participate in the annual marathon.

2 My sister who loves cooking is going to participate in the annual marathon

I

Now our question to you is: Can we replace the RP 'who' in each sentence for the RP 'that'? (zie vorige dia)

1. Yes
2. No

The correct answer was B

Remember from this point on: 

In sentences containing defining relative clauses (bijzinnen met essentiële informatie) such as sentence 2 in the previous slides, you may use RP that to replace RPs who or which .

In sentences containing non-defining relative clauses (bijzinnen met niet-noodzakelijke informatie) such as sentence 1, it is incorrect to use RP that. 

Stay with us, we're almost done with part I of the explanation.

2 more things. The first thing is:

That we leave out who/which/that when the relative clause contains a subject:

Is your uncle Terence the man who  I thought was so handsome?

You have sent me a picture which you had sent me before

Interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are 'vragende voornaamwoorden' in Dutch, and as the term already reveals, we use them solely in interrogative sentences (vraagzinnen)

Who       /       Whose       /      Whom       /     What   /    Which

The final thing is..That you have to learn the following combinations by heart

with + whom = met wie (people)

with + which = waarmee (things) 

about + whom = over wie (people)

about + which = waarover (things)

See grammar 24.6 (p. 149 of your textbook) for examples

In short (part I):

• Who = wie

Used to refer to people

• Whose = wiens

Used to refer to the possessions of people / animals / things

• Whom = wie (use this after a preposition (voorzetsel) ) 

With whom did you go out last night?

In short (part 2):

• What = wat / welke / wat voor

Used when mentioning a large / unlimited number of things

What countries would you like to visit?

What are you especially interested in?

• Which = wat / welke / wat voor

Used when mentioning a limited number of things / small amount

Which do you prefer, soap series or documentaries?

Which movie did you enjoy best, Forrest Gump or The Fault in our Stars?

End of presentation

Good luck practising / studying.

BOHA & CHAY