一、关系代词和关系副词基本用法

根据关系词在定语从句中的不同用法,可分为关系代词和关系副词。关系代词主要有who, whom, which, that, whose等,在定语从句中作主语、宾语、定语等;关系副词主要有when, where, why等,在定语从句中作状语。具体用法如下:

1.关系代词的用法

当先行词指人时,若它在从句中作主语,则用who;若它在从句作宾语,则用whom或who;若它在从句中作定语,则用whose。如:

☛The man who told me this refused to tell me his name. 告诉我这事的人不肯告诉我他的名字。

☛The woman whose umbrella you took is very angry about it. 你拿了那个女人的伞,她非常生气。

当先行词指物时,若在定语从句中作主语或宾语,则用which;若它在定语从句中作定语用,则用of which或whose。如:

☛I saw something in the paper which might interest you. 我在报上看到一样可能使你感兴趣的东西。

☛He’s written a book the name of which (whose name) I’ve forgotten. 他写了一本书,书名我给忘了。

2.关系副词的用法

关系副词主要有when, where, why等,在定语从句中作状语,分别表示时间、在点和原因。when主要放在time, day, years, season, age, occasion等时间的名词后;where主要放在place, city, town, village, house等地点名词后;why则通常只放在reason后。如(www.yygrammar.com):

☛Wednesday is the day when the shops are not open in the afternoon. 星期三下午商店不开门。

☛Give me one reason why we should help you. 给我举出一个我们应当帮助你的理由。

要特别注意,activity, case, point, even, situation, job, organization, position等抽象名词后接where引导定语从句的用法(这是近几年高考的一个新热点)。如:

☛I don’t want a job where I’m chained to a desk all day. 我不想找一份整天坐办公桌前的工作。

☛Today, we’ll discuss a number of cases where beginners of English fail to use the language properly. 今天,我们将讨论一些英语初学者对英语使用不当的问题。

☛The treatment will continue until the patient reaches the point where he can walk correctly and safely. 治疗将会持续到病人可以正常且安全地行走。

☛If you risk something important, you cause it to be in a dangerous situation where you might lose it. 你如果拿重要的东西去冒险,那你就是将它置于一种可能会失去它的危险境地。

二、使用非限制性定语从句的情况:

1. 关系代词指代整个主句时,使用非限制性定语从句。

☛You did a lot for me, for which I was grateful. 你为我做了许多,对此我很感激。

☛The Diaoyu Island belongs to China, as is known to us. 众所周知,钓鱼岛属于中国。

☛A middle-aged woman killed her husband, which frightened me very much. 一个中年女子杀害了自己的丈夫,这令我十分恐惧。

2. 当先行词指的是世界上独一无二的事物或人名地名等专有名词时,使用非限制性定语从句。

☛China, which is my motherland, is developing fast. 中国是我的祖国,正在快速发展。

☛Eason, who was a pop star, got married last year. 伊森去年结婚了,他是明星。

☛Last Sunday they reached Nanjing , where a conference was to be held. 他们上周日到达南京,有个会议要在那里举行。

3. 当先行词指的是某人只有一个亲属(son,daughter等)时,使用非限制性定语从句。

☛He has a daughter, who is studying in London. 他有个女儿,现在正在伦敦学习。(只有一个女儿)

☛This is my teacher, who has something to tell you. 这是我的老师,他有一些事情要告诉你。

三、限制性定语从句与非限制性定语从句的区别

1. 形式不同

限制性定语从句主句和从句之间不用逗号隔开,口语中使用时也不停顿;而非限制性定语从句与主句之间通常有逗号隔开,口语中使用时有停顿。

2. 功能不同

限制性定语从句用于对先行词的意义进行修饰、限制和识别,如果去掉,就会造成句意不完整或概念不清;而非限制性定语从句用于对先行词起补充说明作用,如果省略,句意仍然清楚、完整。

☛People who take physical exercise live longer. 进行体育锻炼的人活得长些。(若把从句去掉句子就失去意义)

☛His daughter, who is in Boston now, is coming home next week. 他女儿现在在波士顿,下星期回来。(若把从句去掉,句子意义仍然完整)

3. 翻译不同

在翻译定语从句时,一般把限制性定语从句翻译在它所修饰的先行词之前,而把非限制性定语从句与主句分开。

☛He is the man whose car was stolen. 他就是汽车被窃的那个人。

☛I’ve invited Jim, who lives in the next flat. 我邀请了吉姆,他就住在隔壁。

4. 含义不同

比较下面的两个句子:

☛I have a sister who is a doctor. 我有一个医生的姐姐。(姐姐不止一个)

☛I have a sister, who is a doctor. 我有一个姐姐,她是当医生的。(只有一个姐姐)

5. 先行词不同

限制性定语从句的先行词只能是名词或代词,而非限制性定语从句的先行词则可以是名词或代词,也可以是短语或句子;另外,当先行词为专有名词或其他具有独一无二性的普通名词时,通常要用非限制性定语从句,而不用限制性定语从句。

☛Peter drove too fast, which was dangerous. 彼得开车很快,这是很危险的。(which指drive too fast)

☛He changed his mind, which made me very angry. 他改变了主意,这使我很生气。(which指整个主句)

☛Mr. Smith, who is our boss, will leave for Japan next week. 我们的老板史密斯先生下周要去日本。(先行词为专有名词,要用非限制性定语从句修饰)

☛Her father, who has a lot of money, wishes her to study abroad. 她父亲很有钱,希望她出国学习。(先行词为表独一无二意义的普通名词,要用非限制性定语从句修饰)

6. 关系词不同

关系词that和why可用于限制性定语从句中,通常不用于非限制性定语从句;另外,在限制性定语从句中,关系词有时可以省略,而在非限制性定语从句中关系词一律不能省略。

四、"介词+关系代词"引导的定语从句:

●"介词+关系代词"的用法

当关系代词在定语从句中作介词宾语时,我们通常用"介词+关系代词"引导定语从句。如果指"人",用"介词+whom";如果指"物",用"介词+which"。

●"介词+关系代词"结构中介词的选用

1.一般来说,确定关系代词前的介词,可以从以下三方面入手:①先行词的意义;②从句中的动词或形容词与先行词的固定搭配;③句子的意思。

☞I’ll never forget the time during which I spent my childhood in the country.

我永远不会忘记孩童时代我在乡村度过的时光。

2.表示"整体和部分关系",介词常用of。在some,any,few,none,all,both,neither,most,each等代词或数词的前、后可以用of which/whom。

☞John invited about 40 people to his wedding,most of whom are family members.

约翰邀请了大约40人参加他的婚礼,他们当中绝大部分是家庭成员。

3.有时"介词+where"可以引导定语从句,此时要和"介词+which"引导的定语从句从意思上加以区别。

☞His head soon appeared out of the window,from where he saw nothing but trees.

他的头很快从窗口探了出来,从那里除了树木他什么也看不到。(from where相当于from out of the window,而不是from the window)

●在定语从句中,含介词的短语动词不可拆开使用(短语拆开后含义发生变化),如look after, look for等。

●"of which / whom"有时可以用"whose+名词"结构来改写。

●当先行词为way并且定语从句中缺少状语时,通常用in which或that引导定语从句(in which或that可省略);如果定语从句中不缺少状语,则用关系代词引导(that 或which 可省略)。

五、关系代词只用that而不用 which的情况

1.先行词是all,something,everything,anything,nothing,little,much,few等不定代词或先行词被all,any,every,no,little,much,some等词修饰。

☞All the people that come from the country work much harder.

所有来自农村的人工作都更努力得多。

2.先行词被序数词、 形容词最高级、 the only, the very, the last等修饰时, 关系代词通常只用that, 不用which.如:

☞The first English novel that I read was Cities.

我读的第一本英文小说是《城市》。

☞This is one of the most exciting football games that I have ever seen.

这是我见过的最激动人心的足球比赛之一。

☞This is the only thing that we can do now.

这是我们现在惟一能做的事情。

3.先行词既有人又有物时,关系代词只用that,不用which.如:

☞The scientist and his achievements that you told me about are admired by us all.

我们所有人都钦佩你告诉我的那位科学家和他所取得的成就。

☞The foreign visitors spoke highly of the pioneers and their performances that they saw at the Children’s Palace.

外国游客高度赞扬了他们在少年宫所看到的少先队员以及他们的表演。

4.关系代词在限定性定语从句中作表语并带有类比含义时,通常只用that,不用which.如:

☞He is no longer the star that he was.

他不再是过去的那位明星了。

☞Our school is no longer the school that it used to be.

我们的学校不再是以前的那所学校了。

5.句中其他位置已出现which,为避免重复,不用which而用that引导限定性定语从句。如:

☞Which is the car that has overtaken us? 超过我们的是哪辆车?