Unit 96. Relative clauses 5: extra information clauses (2)

Unit 96- Part A

Prepositions + whom/which
You can use a preposition before whom (for people) and which (for things). So you can say: to whom / with whom / about which / without which etc. :
   •    Mr Lee, to whom I spoke at the meeting, is very interested in our proposal.
   •    Fortunately we had a map, without which we would have got lost.

In informal English we often keep the preposition after the verb in the relative clause. When we do this, we normally use who (not whom) for people:
   •    This is my friend from Canada, who I was telling you about.
   •    Yesterday we visited the City Museum, which I’d never been to before.

Unit 96- Part B

All of / most of etc. + whom/which Study these examples:

•    Martin tried on three jackets, none of which fitted him.    •    Two men, neither of whom I had seen before, came into the office.    •    They’ve got three cars, two of which they rarely use.    •    Sue has a lot of friends, many of whom she was at school with. You can also say the cause of which / the name of which etc. :    •    The building was destroyed in a fire, the cause of which was never established.    •    We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the name of which I can’t remember now.

Unit 96- Part C

Which (not what)

In this example, which = ‘the fact that he got the job’. You must use which (not what) in sentences like these:    •    Sarah couldn’t meet us, which was a pity.  (not what was a pity)    •    The weather was good, which we hadn’t expected.  (not what we hadn’t expected) For what, see Unit 92C and Unit 93D.

Exercises

{slide=1 Write the relative clauses in a more formal way.}Write the relative clauses in a more formal way using a preposition + whom/which.
{tooltip}Key.{end-link}2    of which he’s very proud
3    with whom we went on holiday
4    to which only members of the family were invited{end-tooltip}

1    Yesterday we visited the City Museum, which I’d never been to before.
      Yesterday we visited the City Museum,    to which I’d never been before.   
2    My brother showed us his new car, which he’s very proud of.
      My brother showed us his new car, _________________________________
3    This is a photograph of our friends Chris and Sam, who we went on holiday with.
      This is a photograph of our friends Chris and Sam, _________________________________
4    The wedding, which only members of the family were invited to, took place on Friday.
      The wedding _________________________________, took place on Friday.

{/slide} {slide=2 Use the information in the first sentence to complete the second sentence.}Use the information in the first sentence to complete the second sentence. Use all of / most of etc. or the ..  of + whom/which.
{tooltip}Key.{end-link}2    most of which was useless
3    neither of which she has received
4    none of whom was suitable
5    one of which she hardly ever uses
6    half of which he gave to his parents
7    both of whom arc teachers
8    only a few of whom I knew
9    (the) sides of which were lined with trees
10   the aim of which is to save money{end-tooltip}

1    All of Mary’s brothers are married.
      Mary has three brothers,  all of whom are married .   
2    Most of the information we were given was useless.
      We were given a lot of information, ________________________.
3    Jane has received neither of the letters I sent her.
      I sent Jane two letters, ________________________.
4    None of the ten people who applied for the job was suitable.
      Ten people applied for the job, ________________________.
5    Kate hardly ever uses one of her computers.
      Kate has got two computers, ________________________.
6    Mike gave half of the £50.000 he won to his parents.
      Mike won £50,000, ________________________.
7    Both of Julia’s sisters are teachers.
      Julia has two sisters, ________________________.
8    I went to a party – I knew only a few of the people there.
      There were a lot of people at the party, ________________________.
9    The sides of the road we drove along were lined with trees.
      We drove along the road, the ________________________.
10  The aim of the company’s new business plan is to save money.
     The company has a new business plan ________________________.

{/slide} {slide=3 Join sentences from the boxes to make new sentences.}Join sentences from the boxes to make new sentences. Use which.
{tooltip}Key.{end-link}2    Jane doesn’t have a phone, which makes it difficult to contact her.
3    Neil has passed his exams, which is good news.
4    Our flight was delayed, which meant we had to wait three hours at the airport.
5    Kate offered to let me stay at her house, which was very kind of her.
6    The street I live in is very noisy at night, which makes it difficult to sleep sometimes.
7    Our car has broken down, which means we can’t go away tomorrow.{end-tooltip}

1    Laura couldn’t come to the party,   which was a pity.  
2    Jane _____________________________________
3    __________________________________________
4    __________________________________________
5    __________________________________________
6    __________________________________________
7    __________________________________________

{/slide}

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