Chapter 11¶

Relative Clauses, Which We Need 关系从句（relative clause）：不可或缺

In this chapter we learn about another kind of dependent clause, the relative clause. There are two kinds of relative clauses. The first that we'll examine is based on the relative pronouns; the second is based on the relative adverbs.

在本章中，我们学习另一种依存从句——关系从句。关系从句有两种。我们将考察的第一种基于关系代词（relative pronoun）；第二种基于关系副词（relative adverb）。

THEY'RE ALL RELATIVE 它们全是关系词

The relative pronouns are 关系代词有：

who, whom, whose, which, that

(Whom is the objective form of who; whose is the possessive.) （Whom 是 who 的宾格形式；whose 是所有格。）

Committing these five relative pronouns to memory will help you recognize relative clauses.

记住这五个关系代词将有助于你识别关系从句。

As you'll see in the examples below, relative pronouns begin relative clauses. The relative clauses are underlined:

正如你将在下列示例中看到的，关系代词引领关系从句。关系从句以下划线标出：

The man who spoke to you is my uncle. 和你说话的那个男人是我叔叔。

My uncle is the man whom you saw. 我叔叔就是你见到的那个男人。

The woman whose car you hit is my neighbor. 你撞了她车的那位女士是我的邻居。

The car, which is a total wreck, is a Chevrolet. 那辆车，完全报废了，是一辆雪佛兰。

The car that you hit is a Chevrolet. 你撞的那辆车是雪佛兰。

Relative clauses modify nouns in a sentence. They cannot be moved around like subordinate clauses, but always appear after the nouns they modify.

关系从句修饰句子中的名词。它们不能像从句那样四处移动，而是总是出现在它们修饰的名词之后。

Relative pronouns play two roles in a sentence. First, relative pronouns connect their own clause to another clause, which is usually independent. Second, as pronouns, they stand in for nouns. The relative pronoun appears in the relative clause, and the antecedent of the pronoun is in the independent clause.

关系代词在句子中扮演两个角色。第一，关系代词将它们自己的从句连接到另一个从句，通常是独立从句。第二，作为代词，它们代替名词。关系代词出现在关系从句中，而代词的先行词（antecedent）在独立从句中。

Here's an important point: The antecedent of the relative pronoun is always the noun modified by the relative clause.

重要的一点是：关系代词的先行词总是被关系从句修饰的那个名词。

To examine relative clauses further (or even farther), let's begin with two brief independent clauses:

为了进一步考察关系从句，让我们从两个简短的独立从句开始：

1. The job is part-time. （这份工作是兼职的。）
2. You want the job. （你想要这份工作。）

With a relative pronoun, we can replace the words the job in Sentence 2 with the relative pronoun that to create (with a bit of rearranging) a relative clause: that you want. Then we can embed that clause into the middle of Sentence 1:

用关系代词，我们可以用关系代词 that 替换句子 2 中的 the job，创建（经过一点重新排列）一个关系从句：that you want。然后我们可以将该从句嵌入句子 1 的中间：

The job that you want is part-time. 你想要的那份工作是兼职的。

The words that you want make up the relative clause, which is now part of Sentence 1, the independent clause.

词语 that you want 构成了关系从句，它现在是独立从句（句子 1）的一部分。

As you've just seen, with relative pronouns we can combine two independent clauses into one complex sentence. The resulting sentence has one independent clause and one relative clause embedded inside the independent clause. And, of course, the sentence may contain more than two clauses.

正如你刚刚看到的，用关系代词我们可以将两个独立从句组合成一个复合句。由此产生的句子有一个独立从句和一个嵌入在独立从句内部的关系从句。当然，句子可能包含超过两个从句。

As the example above shows, the relative clause is adjectival: the relative clause modifies job. Relative clauses are always adjectival and always follow the nouns they modify.

如上述示例所示，关系从句是形容词性的：关系从句修饰 job。关系从句总是形容词性的，并且总是跟在它们修饰的名词之后。

The word order often changes in the relative clause because the relative pronoun must appear early in the clause.

关系从句中的词序常常改变，因为关系代词必须出现在从句的较早位置。

Here's another example, using who. We'll begin with two independent clauses:

这是另一个使用 who 的示例。我们从两个独立从句开始：

1. That man is my uncle. （那个人是我叔叔。）
2. That man talked to you. （那个人和你说了话。）

Now, we use who to replace that man in Sentence 2. Then we embed the resulting relative clause into the middle of Sentence 1:

现在，我们用 who 替换句子 2 中的 that man。然后我们将由此产生的关系从句嵌入句子 1 的中间：

That man who talked to you is my uncle. 那个和你说了话的人是我叔叔。

Here's another example, using whom:

这是另一个使用 whom 的示例：

1. The man is my uncle. （那个男人是我叔叔。）
2. You saw the man. （你见到了那个男人。）

Again we replace the man in Sentence 2 with whom, move the relative pronoun to the beginning of the clause, and combine the clauses:

我们再次用 whom 替换句子 2 中的 the man，将关系代词移到从句开头，然后组合从句：

The man whom you saw is my uncle. 你见到的那个男人是我叔叔。

Here are more sentences with relative clauses:

以下是更多带关系从句的句子：

I got the job, which is part-time. 我得到了这份工作，是兼职的。

I borrowed the broom from the woman whose house I rent. 我从我租房子的那位女士那里借了扫帚。

Relative pronouns can be the objects of prepositions. In that case, the relative pronoun appears just after the preposition in the relative clause:

关系代词可以是介词的宾语。在这种情况下，关系代词出现在关系从句中介词的后面：

There is the man to whom you must speak. 那里就是你必须与之交谈的那个人。

In all of these examples, and any others we might find, we see the same features of the relative clause built with relative pronouns:

在所有这些示例以及我们可能找到的任何其他示例中，我们可以看到用关系代词构建的关系从句的相同特征：

1. The relative pronoun appears at or near the beginning of the relative clause. （关系代词出现在关系从句的开头或接近开头处。）
2. In its clause, the relative pronoun stands in for the modified noun, which is always the antecedent of the relative pronoun. （在其从句中，关系代词代替被修饰的名词，该名词始终是关系代词的先行词。）
3. The relative clause follows the antecedent---that is, it follows the modified noun. This means that relative clauses cannot appear at the beginning of a sentence, as subordinate clauses can, but only in the middle or at the end. （关系从句跟在先行词之后——即跟在被修饰的名词之后。这意味着关系从句不能像从句那样出现在句首，而只能出现在句中或句末。）

ADVERBS, RELATIVELY 关系副词（relative adverb）

There are just two relative adverbs, when and where, and, like the relative pronouns, they help us form relative clauses that are adjectival. Yes, it seems odd that an adverb is the basis of an adjectival clause, but wait and see.

只有两个关系副词：when 和 where，并且像关系代词一样，它们帮助我们构成形容词性的关系从句。是的，副词成为形容词性从句的基础似乎很奇怪，但且看下文。

The relative adverbs when and where are like relative pronouns in other ways: They seem to refer back to a noun earlier in the sentence, and they begin the clause they introduce.

关系副词 when 和 where 在其他方面类似于关系代词：它们似乎回指句子中较早的名词，并且它们引领它们所引入的从句。

We use when to begin a relative clause that modifies a noun that names times:

我们用 when 引领修饰时间名词的关系从句：

I have to finish this paper by noon, when it is due. 我必须在中午之前完成这篇论文，那是截止时间。

The year 1929, when the stock market crashed, is the subject of this new book. 1929 年，股市崩盘的那一年，是这本新书的主题。

In each case, the relative clauses are underlined, and when is an adverb in the relative clause. When refers to the time noun (noon, the year 1929) that is modified by the relative clause.

在每种情况下，关系从句以下划线标出，when 是关系从句中的副词。When 指代被关系从句修饰的时间名词（noon, the year 1929）。

We use where in relative clauses that modify nouns that name places:

我们用 where 在修饰地点名词的关系从句中：

Her favorite city is Atlanta, where she was born. 她最喜欢的城市是亚特兰大，她出生的地方。

Marshfield, Missouri, where astronomer Edwin Hubble grew up, is a pleasant little town. 密苏里州马什菲尔德，天文学家埃德温·哈勃长大的地方，是一个宜人的小镇。

In each sentence, the relative clause modifies the place word (Atlanta and Marshfield, Missouri) that precedes the relative adverb.

在每个句子中，关系从句修饰位于关系副词之前的地点词（Atlanta 和 Marshfield, Missouri）。

Here are some more examples:

以下是更多示例：

This is a month when temperatures are low. 这是一个气温低的月份。

I know a store where we will find that book. 我知道一家商店，我们会在那里找到那本书。

This is the time of year when days get shorter. 这是一年中白天变短的时节。

I know of a spooky abandoned house where ghosts, werewolves, and my old high school teachers have been seen. 我知道一栋阴森的废弃房子，那里曾有人见过鬼魂、狼人以及我过去的高中老师。

(That last sentence is not true. There are no such things as werewolves.) （最后一句话不是真的。根本没有狼人这种东西。）

In this chapter, all the sentences containing relative clauses are complex sentences, with one independent clause and one dependent clause. But relative clauses can also appear in sentences with more clauses.

在本章中，所有包含关系从句的句子都是复合句，有一个独立从句和一个依存从句。但关系从句也可以出现在有更多从句的句子中。

In sentences built with relative adverbs, we all find the same features:

在由关系副词构建的句子中，我们都发现相同的特征：

1. The relative adverb appears at the beginning of the relative clause. （关系副词出现在关系从句的开头。）
2. The relative adverb is selected on the basis of the word that will be modified by the relative clause: when to modify time words, and where to modify place words. （关系副词根据将被关系从句修饰的词来选择：when 修饰时间词，where 修饰地点词。）
3. The relative clause follows the modified word. This means that relative adverb clauses cannot appear at the beginning of a sentence, as subordinate clauses can, but only in the middle or at the end. （关系从句跟在被修饰词之后。这意味着关系副词从句不能像从句那样出现在句首，而只能出现在句中或句末。）

These features are noticeably similar to the features of the relative clauses built with pronouns. (You did notice that, didn't you? Didn't you?) 这些特征与用代词构建的关系从句的特征明显相似。（你注意到了，不是吗？不是吗？）

POINTS FOR WRITERS 写作要点

1. Omitted relative adverbs. 省略的关系副词

Sometimes in casual writing and conversation, the relative adverbs when and where are left out:

有时在随意的写作和对话中，关系副词 when 和 where 会被省略：

This is the time of year days get shorter. This is the month temperatures are low. I know a place we can find that new book.

Generally ignored in conversation, these omissions sometimes seem odd in writing. Don't do this in your formal writing.

在对话中通常被忽视，这些省略有时在写作中显得奇怪。在正式写作中不要这样做。

2. Restrictive and non-restrictive clauses. 限制性从句（restrictive clause）与非限制性从句（non-restrictive clause）

Consider these two sentences, both of them containing the same relative clause. Do you see the differences in the meaning of these two sentences?

考虑这两个句子，它们都包含相同的关系从句。你看到这两个句子意义上的差异了吗？

All politicians who are crooks should go to jail. 所有是骗子的政客都应该进监狱。

All politicians, who are crooks, should go to jail. 所有政客，他们全是骗子，都应该进监狱。

The commas make a big difference. In the first sentence, we're told that only those politicians who are crooks should go to jail. In the second, we're told parenthetically that all politicians are crooks, and they all should go to the hoosegow.

逗号造成了很大的不同。在第一个句子中，我们被告诉只有那些是骗子的政客才应该进监狱。在第二个句子中，我们被以插入语的方式告知，所有政客都是骗子，他们都应该进大牢。

We're comparing restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses here. In the first sentence, the restrictive clause restricts the meaning of all politicians to include only those who are crooks. The non-restrictive clause in the second sentence informs us that all politicians are crooks.

我们在这里比较限制性和非限制性关系从句。在第一个句子中，限制性从句将 all politicians 的含义限制为仅包括那些是骗子的政客。第二个句子中的非限制性从句告诉我们所有政客都是骗子。

The pair of commas in the second sentence (known as parenthetical commas) make the enclosed information supplemental, so that the relative clause does not modify or restrict the words all politicians.

第二个句子中的一对逗号（称为插入逗号，parenthetical comma）使得所包含的信息为补充性的，因此关系从句不修饰或限制 all politicians 这些词。

Here are some more examples:

以下是更多示例：

It's fun to watch magicians who are clever. 观看聪明的魔术师很有趣。

It's fun to watch magicians, who are clever. 观看魔术师很有趣，他们都是聪明的。

The first sentence tells us that only some magicians (those who are clever) are fun. The second sentence gives us some supplementary information about all magicians.

第一个句子告诉我们只有一些魔术师（那些聪明的）有趣。第二个句子给了我们关于所有魔术师的一些补充信息。

Notice that the non-restrictive clauses could be enclosed in parentheses instead of commas.

注意，非限制性从句可以括在括号里，而不是逗号里。

In some sentences, the commas don't seem to make much difference:

在一些句子中，逗号似乎没有太大的区别：

I dislike those baseball fans who are rude. 我不喜欢那些粗鲁的棒球迷。

I dislike those baseball fans, who are rude. 我不喜欢那些棒球迷，他们都是粗鲁的。

In both cases, we're speaking about a particular group of fans, although the first sentence seems to be about all rude fans; the second, about a particular group of rude fans.

在两种情况下，我们都在谈论特定的球迷群体，尽管第一个句子似乎涉及所有粗鲁的球迷；第二个句子涉及特定的粗鲁球迷群体。

3. Troublesome relatives. 麻烦的关系词

Some grammar books include why among the relative adverbs:

一些语法书将 why 包含在关系副词中：

I know the reason why he left. 我知道他离开的原因。

But sentences like this are considered redundant, because we can usually delete the modified noun (reason) without losing any information:

但这样的句子被认为是冗余的，因为我们通常可以删除被修饰的名词（reason）而不丢失任何信息：

I know why he left. 我知道他为什么离开。

In this new sentence, why he left is not a relative clause, but a nominal clause, which we'll learn about in Chapter 12.

在这个新句子中，why he left 不是关系从句，而是名词性从句（nominal clause），我们将在第 12 章中学习。

4. More troublesome relatives. 更多麻烦的关系词

(You know, it's hard to avoid troublesome relatives.) （你知道，很难避开麻烦的亲戚/关系词。）

Notice the ambiguous use of which in this sentence:

注意此句中 which 的歧义使用：

The senator said he believed that the general will resign, and the newspaper published an editorial agreeing with what the senator said, which disappointed me.

Using pronouns near the end of long sentences can confuse readers, who may not be able to tell what the precise antecedent is. (In the example above, what does which refer to?) This is an important point because clarity is always important. Make sure antecedents are clear.

在长句末尾附近使用代词会让读者困惑，他们可能无法判断准确的先行词是什么。（在上面的示例中，which 指什么？）这是一个重要的观点，因为清晰始终很重要。确保先行词清晰。

To improve a sentence like the one above, you may need to break it up into two or more sentences, and you certainly want to make clear what disappointed you:

要改进像上面这样的句子，你可能需要将其拆分成两个或更多句子，并且你当然想弄清楚是什么让你失望：

The senator disappointed me when he said . . . I was disappointed to hear that the general will resign . . . The newspaper editorial disappointed me when . . .

5. Who or that?

Compare these sentences:

比较这些句子：

I'll speak with the man who runs this place. I'll speak with the man that runs this place.

We use both versions in informal communication, and few people notice or care. In formal writing, however, many writers and editors prefer to use only who (and whom) to refer to people.

我们在非正式交流中两种版本都使用，很少有人注意或在意。然而，在正式写作中，许多作者和编辑倾向于只用 who（和 whom）来指代人。

6. Who or whom?

Because a relative pronoun always has a grammatical function in its relative clause, sometimes we have to decide when to use who or whom. Who is the nominative form of the pronoun, used for subjects; whom is the objective. Compare:

因为关系代词在其关系从句中总是有语法功能，有时我们必须决定何时使用 who 或 whom。Who 是代词的主格形式，用于主语；whom 是宾格。比较：

I'll speak with the man who runs this place. 我将和经营这个地方的人谈谈。

That is the man with whom I spoke. 那就是我跟他说过话的那个人。

Writers and speakers are often uncertain about when to use whom, which may be one reason many people prefer that instead. Let's sort some matters out.

作者和说话者常常不确定何时使用 whom，这可能是许多人更喜欢用 that 代替的原因之一。让我们理清一些问题。

When the pronoun follows a preposition (as in the second example above), the grammatically correct choice is whom: With whom I spoke.

当代词跟在介词后面时（如上面第二个示例），语法上正确的选择是 whom：With whom I spoke。

Sometimes rearranging the sentence, or part of it, makes the choice easier. If we're ending a sentence with a preposition (as in He is the person who I spoke with), putting the preposition before the pronoun makes it more obvious that we need the objective case:

有时重新排列句子或其部分，使选择更容易。如果我们以介词结尾一个句子（如 He is the person who I spoke with），将介词放在代词前使得我们需要宾格这一点更加明显：

He is the person with whom I spoke. 他就是我跟他说过话的那个人。

Suppose we have a question like this:

假设我们有一个这样的问题：

Who do you trust? 你信任谁？

Who may sound right because we're accustomed to putting a nominative-case pronoun at the beginning of a sentence. But try to answer the question using either he or him:

Who 可能听起来正确，因为我们习惯于将主格代词放在句首。但尝试用 he 或 him 来回答这个问题：

I trust him. 我信任他。

The answer to the question is him (an objective case pronoun) because it's the direct object of trust. In the question above, the pronoun is also the direct object, so use whom:

问题的答案是 him（宾格代词），因为它是 trust 的直接宾语。在上面的问题中，代词也是直接宾语，所以用 whom：

Whom do you trust? 你信任谁？

Try out the same procedures with these two questions:

对这两个问题试用相同的程序：

Is that the man who danced with her? 那个和她跳舞的男人是他吗？

Do you know the man who she danced with? 你认识她跟他跳舞的那个男人吗？

In the first case, it's possible to revise the relative clause into a sentence using he or him (He danced with her) which indicates that we need the nominative pronoun, who, in the question.

在第一种情况下，可以将关系从句改成使用 he 或 him 的句子（He danced with her），这表明在问句中我们需要主格代词 who。

In the second example, rephrasing the sentence by moving the preposition gives us Do you know the man with who she danced? It's now obvious that we need whom:

在第二个示例中，通过移动介词改写句子得到 Do you know the man with who she danced?，现在很明显我们需要 whom：

Do you know the man whom she danced with? Do you know the man with whom she danced?

In casual conversation, we'll all misuse who or whom sometimes. But in our formal professional writing, this is often a matter we want to get right---or that an editor or co-author wants right. The he/him test can help us work out these things.

在随意的对话中，我们有时都会用错 who 或 whom。但在正式的职场写作中，这往往是我们想要做对的事情——或者是编辑或合著者想要做对的事情。He/him 测试法可以帮助我们弄清楚这些事。

In contexts in which you aim for a more conversational style, a more informal tone, using who instead of whom can contribute to that effect.

在你追求更口语化风格、更非正式语气的语境中，使用 who 代替 whom 可以有助于达到这种效果。

EXERCISES 练习

11a. Underline the relative clauses in the following sentences. Double-underline the relative pronouns. Then locate the nouns modified by each relative clause and enclose them in square brackets, as in this example:

在下列句子中，在关系从句下画单线。在关系代词下画双线。然后找到每个关系从句修饰的名词，并用方括号将它们括起来，如以下示例所示：

We took that bin of recyclables to the [agency] that collects them.

Remember that some uses of that are not relative pronouns. You'll see an example here.

记住，that 的一些用法不是关系代词。你会在这里看到一个示例。

1. The house that is being renovated was my grandmother's home.
2. Please get the book, which I left in my office.
3. You can give that letter to the man who is waiting outside.
4. The woman whose car you dented wants to speak to you.
5. The man who is waiting already has that letter that you left in your office.
6. The customer whom you phoned is waiting in the office.
7. I know the man to whom they spoke.

11b. Underline the relative clauses in the following sentences. Double-underline the relative adverbs. Locate the nouns modified by each relative clause and enclose them in square brackets, as in this example:

在下列句子中，在关系从句下画单线。在关系副词下画双线。找到每个关系从句修饰的名词，并用方括号将它们括起来，如以下示例所示：

Yesterday my father drove by the [house] where he was born.

1. The house where he was born is on Fifth Street.
2. In April 1943, when he was born, his parents were living and working in the city.
3. Spring is the season when I am happiest, and home is the place where I am most comfortable.
4. Marceline, where young Walt Disney lived, is a small town in northern Missouri.
5. In 1911, when his family moved to Kansas City, Disney left Marceline.

11c. Rewrite each of the following pairs of sentences as a single sentence with a relative clause. Make the second sentence the relative clause.

将下列每对句子改写为一个带有关系从句的单个句子。使第二个句子成为关系从句。

Here's a hint: Find a noun phrase that appears in both sentences. Then replace the phrase in the second sentence with a relative pronoun that will begin the relative clause.

提示：找到一个在两个句子中都出现的名词短语。然后用一个关系代词替换第二个句子中的该短语，该关系代词将引领关系从句。

A reminder: The relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that.

提醒：关系代词是 who, whom, whose, which 和 that。

After you've revised the sentence, underline the relative clause that you created.

修改句子后，在你创建的关系从句下画线。

Here's an example: 示例如下：

The dictionary could be helpful. You brought the dictionary. (Use that.) REWRITE: The dictionary that you brought could be helpful.

1. That man is my neighbor. That man is standing over there. (Use who or whom.)
2. I like the car. You rented the car today. (Use that.)
3. The woman is at the door. You called the woman earlier. (Use who or whom.)
4. The dog has been found. I lost the dog. (Use that.)
5. My mother is watching Casablanca. My mother loves old movies. (Use who or whom.)

11d. Rewrite each pair of sentences as one sentence with a relative clause. Make the second sentence the relative clause. Underline the relative clause in each new sentence.

将每对句子改写为一个带有关系从句的句子。使第二个句子成为关系从句。在每个新句子中，在关系从句下画线。

A hint: Find a noun phrase that appears in both sentences. Then replace the phrase in the second sentence with a relative adverb, either where or when, that will begin the relative clause. You may have to rearrange quite a few words in the new sentence.

提示：找到一个在两个句子中都出现的名词短语。然后在第二个句子中用关系副词（where 或 when）替换该短语，该关系副词将引领关系从句。你可能需要在新句子中重新排列不少词语。

Here's an example: 示例如下：

The house is a century old. He lives in the house. REWRITE: The house where he lives is a century old.

1. Gary, Indiana, is a pleasant small city. I was born in Gary, Indiana.
2. I walked down the street. She lives on the street.
3. Christmas is a wonderful time of year. Christmas is when my entire family gathers together.
4. There is the hospital. I was born in the hospital.
5. The book is in the living room. Ron is reading in the living room.