Relative Pronouns: Subject or Object?
By now you can surely identify the subject of a clause. Basically,
- The subject always comes first (assuming that you have already canceled out everything that can be canceled).
Exceptions to this rule are rare. Occasionally, however, you may encounter a sentence which starts with the predicate (object, complement, or verb).
- Win, we must.
- Evil, he is.
- A friend, I am.
- Fight, we will.
Such sentences make you sound like Yoda from the movie Star Wars.
Yoda sounds like Yoda because he often puts the end of the sentence first. |
Now, back to relative pronouns.
Relative pronouns are weird, because sometimes they function as the subject of a clause, while at other times they function as the object.
Let's look at some examples:
- We bought a house that is 200 hundred years old.
- She loved the chocolate that I bought.
In the first sentence, "that" is the subject of the adjective clause.
main clause |
subordinate |
||||
We bought a house | that is 200 years old | ||||
S |
V bought |
O a house |
S the house |
= is |
C 200 years old |
Our analysis tells us:
- "that" is a pronoun that substitutes for "house".
- "house" is the subject of the adjective clause.
- The adjective clause follows the normal word order ("subject always comes first").
- The adjective clause is equative (S=C).
But now let's examine the second sentence:
main clause |
subordinate |
||||
She loved the chocolate | that I bought | ||||
S |
V loved |
O the chocolate |
O the chocolate |
S I |
V bought |
In this case, something weird is going on:
- "that" is still a pronoun that substitutes for the word that immediately precedes it.
- However, in this case, "chocolate" is the object of the adjective clause, not the subject.
And that's why the adjective clause sounds like something Yoda might say:
To see the clause more clearly, we could put the subject back at the beginning:
- I bought the chocolate.
If you're a native English speaker, you hardly need to worry about such things. Adjective clauses sound natural to you, and there's no need to over-analyze the function of the pronoun.
But occasionally, you do have to pay attention. (We will learn why in the next lesson).
For now, just be aware that relative pronouns can sometimes serve as the subject of a clause, while at other terms they serve as the object.
Here are a few more examples:
Relative pronouns that serve as the subject:
- I sent a letter which explained the situation.
- I sent a letter [the letter] explained the situation.
- I bought a new car that is very fast.
- I bought a new car [the car] is very fast.
Relative pronouns that serve as the object.
- We ordered the wine that our waiter recommended.
- We ordered the wine [wine] our waiter recommended.
- We ordered the wine. (Our waiter recommended the wine).
- I found the skateboard that I had lost.
- I found the skateboard [skateboard] I had lost.
- I found the skateboard. (I had lost the skateboard).
Instructions for the Quiz
Each sentence in the quiz includes an adjective clause that starts with the relative pronoun "that".
Your job is to identify the function of "that" within the adjective clause. In other words, is the word "that"
- the subject of the adjective clause? Or
- the object of the adjective clause?