RELATIVE DESCRIPTIVE : PRONOMS RELATIFS

RELATIVE DESCRIPTIVE : PRONOMS RELATIFS
PHRASE
NATURE DE L’ANTECEDENT
FONCTION DU PRONOM
The Smiths, who live next door, are
very nice people
Personne (=the Smiths)
Sujet du verbe de la relative (live)
The Smiths, whom you met yesterday,
are very nice people
Their house, which is outside the
village, is massive.
The Smiths, whose daughter you know,
are very nice people.
Their house, whose roof needs
mending, is massive.
Their house, the roof of which needs
mending, is massive.
She smokes a lot, which I don’t like at
all.
She smokes a lot, which is surprising.
WHOSE peut avoir comme antécédent ……………………. ou ………………... Si l’antécédent est ……………………, on peut aussi
utiliser OF WHICH. Par contre, on ne peut en aucun cas utiliser OF WHICH lorsque l’antécédent est ……………………………. (ex : The
Smiths, the daughter of which you know…)
WHICH, lorsqu’il a pour antécédent ……………………………………., peut être indifféremment sujet ou complément du verbe.
On ne peut pas omettre le pronom relatif dans les relatives descriptives (ex : Their house, is outside the village, is massive)
On ne peut pas employer le relatif THAT dans les relatives descriptives (ex : Their house, that is outside the village, is massive)

RELATIVE DESCRIPTIVE : PRONOMS RELATIFS
PHRASE
NATURE DE L’ANTECEDENT
FONCTION DU PRONOM
The Smiths, who live next door, are
very nice people
Personne (=the Smiths)
Sujet du verbe de la relative (live)
The Smiths, whom you met yesterday,
are very nice people
Personne (=the Smiths)
Complément du verbe de la relative
(met : you met the Smiths)
Their house, which is outside the
village, is massive.
non-animé (objet = their house)
Sujet du verbe de la relative (is : their
house is outside the village)
The Smiths, whose daughter you know,
are very nice people.
Personne (=the Smiths)
Génitif : complément du N qui le suit
(The Smiths’ daughter)
Their house, whose roof needs mending,
is massive.
non-animé (objet = their house)
Génitif : complément du N qui le suit
(the house’s roof)
Their house, the roof of which needs
mending, is massive.
non-animé (objet = their house)
Génitif en of+N : complément du N qui
le suit (the roof of the house)
She smokes a lot, which I don’t like at
all.
She smokes a lot, which is surprising.
proposition (remplace “she smokes a
lot”)
Complément du verbe de la relative.
Sujet du verbe de la relative
WHOSE peut avoir comme antécédent une personne ou un non-animé. Si l’antécédent est non-animé, on peut aussi utiliser OF WHICH.
Par contre, on ne peut en aucun cas utiliser OF WHICH lorsque l’antécédent est une personne. (ex : The Smiths, the daughter of which you
know…)
WHICH, lorsqu’il a pour antécédent une proposition, peut être indifféremment sujet ou complément du verbe.
On ne peut pas omettre le pronom relatif dans les relatives descriptives (ex : Their house, is outside the village, is massive)
On ne peut pas employer le relatif THAT dans les relatives descriptives (ex : Their house, that is outside the village, is massive)

RELATIVE CLAUSES
Descriptive vs déterminative
What’s the difference between those two, almost identical sentences?
1. The boys, who had driving licenses, were given summer jobs.
2. The boys who had driving licenses were given summer jobs.
In 2, what happened to the boys who didn’t have driving licenses ?
Translate the two sentences and find out the differences between them.
1 : relative descriptive (la proposition relative apporte un complément d’information)
2 : relative déterminative (détermine l’antécédent : précision indispensable)
ex : classer les relatives suivantes : descriptive ou déterminative.
1. The man that I saw yesterday was tall. (det)
2. Their house, which is on the seaside, is massive. (des)
3. I love the dress which you got in H&M’s. (det)
4. I don’t need this hat, which I got in H&M’s, any longer. (des)
A/ Relative descriptive.
ex : Fill in the blanks with the right pronoun.
1. I saw Paul, ………was with his girlfriend, at the supermarket.
2. My car, …………. bodywork is damaged, is for sale.
3. Liverpool lost to Chelsea, ……………. is not surprising.
4. Hermione, …………. cat died last year, is fond of animals.
5. I phoned Jamie, ………….. you met last week, to ask him whether he wanted to come to our party on Saturday.
Ex : traduire de deux manières différentes:
La chambre, dont la fenêtre donnent (=look onto) sur le jardin, est plus chère que l’autre.

B/ Relative déterminative.
On utilise les mêmes pronoms relatifs (+ le connecteur relatif THAT) mais il n’y a jamais de virgules entre l’antécédent et son
pronom/connecteur relatif.
On peut utiliser THAT au lieu de WHO ou WHICH (sujet ou complément)
Ex : The letter which / that I wrote to you was sent today.
The man who / that broke the world record in 1989 was Ben Johnson.
En position complément, on peut omettre le relatif.
Ex : I really liked the people who/that/ I saw last night.
Ex : AZ exos p.31,32