例如: 1) The man who lives next to us is a fool.
2) You must buy me the house which is near Xiangshan.
上面兩句中的the man和the house是定語從句所修飾的詞,叫先行詞,定語從句放在先行詞的后面。
二、關系詞(連接詞)
1.關系代詞引導的定語從句
引導定語從句的關系詞有關系代詞:that, which, who (賓格whom, 所有格whose) 和關系副詞where, when, why。關系詞放在先行詞和定語從句之間,起連接作用,同時還做定語從句的一個成分。
2.關于that, which的用法注意點
1)只能用that,不用which作為定語從句關系代詞的情況
a)不定代詞,如anything, nothing, the one, all, much, few, any, little等作先行詞
There is nothing that I can do.
I mean the one that was bought yesterday.
b)先行詞有the only, the very, the same, the last修飾
This is the very book that I want to find.
The last place that I visited was the hospital.
c)先行詞為序數(shù)詞、數(shù)詞、形容詞最高級時
This is the first composition that he has written in English.
d)先行詞既有人,又有物時
He talked about the teachers and schools that he had visited.
2)不用that, 只用which的情況
a)引導非限定性定語從句時which
The tree, which is four hundred years old, is very famous here.
b)介詞后用which
We depend on the land from which we get our food.
3.關系副詞引導的定語從句
關系副詞可代替的先行詞是時間、地點或理由的名詞,在從句中作狀語。
1)先行詞是表示地點名詞時(country, school, room…),而關系詞代替先行詞在定語從句中充當?shù)攸c狀語,一般用where引導定語從句。也可以用介詞+which的結構。值得注意的是which前的介詞選擇是根據(jù)先行詞與介詞的搭配關系而定。
Beijing is the place in which (=where) I was born.
He wants to find the place in which (=where) he lived forty years ago.
2)先行詞是表示時間名詞時(year, month, day, night…),而關系詞代替先行詞在定語
從句中充當時間狀語,一般用when引導定語從句。也可以用介詞+which的結構。值得注意的是when前的介詞選擇是根據(jù)先行詞與介詞的搭配關系而定。
His father died that year in which (=when) he was born.
I cannot forget the first day on which (=when) my family moved into the city.
3)先行詞是the reason,而關系詞代替先行詞在定語從句中充當原因狀語,一般用why引導定語從句。也可以用for + which的結構。
Is this the reason for which (why) he refused our offer?
但是這里要指出的是,如果介詞和Which搭配在一起并不表示以上三種意思,則我們只能保留介詞+Which的形式。如 I know English in which I wrote the love letter.
4.判斷關系代詞與關系副詞
方法一: 用關系代詞,還是關系副詞完全取決于從句中的謂語動詞。及物動詞后面無賓語,就必須要
求用關系代詞;而不及物動詞則要求用關系副詞。
判斷改錯:
( ) This is the mountain village where I visited last year.
( ) This is the mountain village which I visited last year.
( ) I will never forget the days when I spent in the countryside.
( ) I‘ll never forget the days which I spent in the countryside.