JL720_GH6_3 Lessons_BEpc_pp41_223:GH6 19/12/16 16:33 Page 102

Grammar 12 – Relative Clauses in Sentences Prepare...

Grammar S
Pink & blue heet 12

Aim: Develop the children’s understanding of how relative clauses act as

pencils
Builds on..
adjectives, either to give important information that help us identify who
G H 1: G 10 .

or what is being described (‘defining’ clauses), or to add extra information

G H 3: G 27–
G H 4: G 30 28
that is interesting, but not essential (‘non-defining’ clauses).
G H 5: G 32
G H 6: G 11

Introduction: Briefly revise what the children have learnt about rela-
tive clauses so far. Relative clauses are a special kind of dependent clause,
so they have a verb and subject, but do not represent a complete thought. They start with a
relative pronoun (‘who’, ‘which’, ‘that’, ‘whom’, ‘whose’) or adverb (‘where’, ‘when’, ‘why’) that
relates the clause to what it is describing. Call out the beginnings of some noun phrases and
ask the class to complete the relative clauses: possible examples include ‘the day (when...)’,
‘my friend (who...)’, ‘some trees (which...)’, ‘the house (that...)’, ‘a place (where...)’, ‘the actor
(whom...)’, ‘an artist (whose...)’. Write the completed phrases on the board and ask some
children to come and identify the relative clauses, underlining the pronouns in pink and
adverbs in orange, and putting each clause in blue brackets.

Main point: Relative clauses cannot stand on their own as simple sentences. They act as
adjectives, giving us more information about a noun. When a relative clause is used in a
sentence, the information it provides does one of two things: it either defines the noun, giving
us the information we need to identify which person or thing is meant, or it provides some
extra detail which, while interesting, could easily be left out. We call these two kinds of
clauses defining and non-defining clauses. Write two sentences on the board and identify
the relative clause in each one, underlining the pronoun in pink and putting blue brackets
around the clause: ‘She is the girl (who won the race).’ ‘Paris, (which is the capital of France),
is a beautiful city’. Discuss them with the class and explain that in the first sentence, the
relative clause defines which girl we are talking about: without it we would be left asking
‘which girl?’; whereas in the second sentence, the clause tells us more about Paris, but it
does not help us understand ‘which’ Paris is being referred to. Point out that the non-defining
clause is separated from the main clause by a pair of bracketing commas. These work in a
similar way to parentheses, telling us that the information inside is extra information that
could easily be removed without changing the sense. In our writing, it is important to know
when to put commas in, because it will affect the meaning: for example, the sentence ‘John
is in the park where his friends are playing’, tells us which park John is in (the one where
his friends are playing); whereas ‘John is in the park, where his friends are playing’, tells us
that John is in the park and his friends are also playing there. Clauses starting with ‘that’
are always defining clauses and never have a comma. Point out that in this last example, the
closing comma is not needed because the clause comes at the end of the sentence.

Grammar Sheet 12: The children identify the defining clauses, underlining the pronoun
in pink and putting blue brackets around the clause [1. who owns a blue bicycle, 2. which
escaped from the zoo, 3. whose ceiling had collapsed, 4. whom you like, 5. that my niece is
baking]. They then answer each question in the way shown. Then they rewrite the next set
of sentences, adding in the extra information given and putting bracketing commas around
each non-defining clause [6. My dad, who loves gardening, especially likes roses; 7. I had
some semi-precious stones, which my sister gave me; 8. His friend, whose name is Tom, is
rather unsocial; 9. They would like to visit Rome, where their cousins live; 10. Jenny, whom
they met forty years ago, is coming to stay].

Extension activity: The children write some sentences of their own with defining or non-
defining relative clauses.

Rounding off: Go over the sheet/extension activity with the class, discussing the answers.

Pages taken from The Grammar 6 Handbook.

102 103
 JL720_GH6_3 Lessons_BEpc_pp41_223:GH6 19/12/16 16:33 Page 103

Relative Clauses in Sentences

Defining clauses give us important
There are two main kinds of relative clause. The way a clause is information that helps us identify
used in a sentence determines which kind it is. the particular person or thing that
we are talking about.
Without them, the meaning
of the sentence would be
quite different. essential information = defining clause

Identify the defining clauses below. Underline the pronouns in pink and put
round brackets around each clause in blue. Then answer the questions to If a clause starts with
see how each clause helps us to identify the noun in bold. ‘that’ it is always a
defining clause.
1. We saw the woman (who owns a blue bicycle)in the park.
Which woman did we see in the park? the o n e w ho ow n s a b lue bicy cle
2. They have caught the ferocious lion which escaped from the zoo.
Which ferocious lion have they caught?
3. They rescued the man whose ceiling had collapsed.
Which man did they rescue?
4. The author whom you like has written a new trilogy.
Which author has written a new trilogy?
5. The pie that my niece is baking smells delicious.
Which pie smells delicious?

Non-defining clauses give us some extra information that could just as easily be left out.
We separate them from
the rest of the sentence
with commas to show that
they are not essential. extra information = non-defining clause

Rewrite each sentence, adding the extra information about the noun in bold. Put commas around
the non-defining clause, unless it is at the end of the sentence, when only the first comma is needed.

6. My dad especially likes roses. who loves gardening

7. I had some semi-precious stones. which my sister gave me

8. His friend is rather unsocial. whose name is Tom

9. They would like to visit Rome. where their cousins live

10. Jenny is coming to stay. whom they met forty years ago

Pages taken from The Grammar 6 Handbook. Grammar Sheet 12 (GH6)

102 103
 JL720_GH6_3 Lessons_BEpc_pp41_223:GH6 19/12/16 16:34 Page 137

Grammar 19 – Adverbials Prepare...

Grammar S
Orange pen heet 19

Aim: Introduce the term ‘adverbial’, which is used to describe any word,
Action card cils
s

phrase or clause that acts as an adverb in a sentence. An adverbial

Builds on..
GH1: G27– .
placed at the beginning of a sentence is called a ‘fronted’ adverbial, and GH2: G15; G28
it is usually separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma.
GH4: G29; GH3: G21
GH5: G11,
G14, G1
G26–G29; G8, G25,
Introduction: On the board, write the adverbs ‘loudly’, ‘here’, ‘today’
H6: G16

and ‘sometimes’. Give out some action cards and ask the children to
stand in the following order: definite article / noun / verb / adverb. Ask the class to think
of a sentence for each adverb, using this sequence [possible examples are ‘The baby is crying
loudly’, ‘The family moved here’, ‘The sale ends today’, ‘The boys argue sometimes’] and
discuss how each adverb tells us more about how [loudly], where [here], when [today] or
how often [sometimes] the verb is done. Also remind the class that some adverbs tell us
how much or to what extent the verb is done, as in ‘The plan almost worked’. Discuss how
most adverbs can go in several different positions, but ones like ‘almost’ always go between
the subject and verb or after the auxiliary verb (The plan had almost worked). Remind the
class that some adverbs like ‘really’, ‘very’ and ‘too’ can also describe adverbs and adjectives.

Main point: With the class, parse one of the earlier sentences and put it into a sentence wall
on the board (see pages 28 and 29 of the Introduction): for example, ‘The familyN movedV
hereAdv [Top: family - moved - (blank) / Bottom: The - here - (blank)]. Remind the children that
‘here’ goes in the box underneath the verb because it is an adverb telling us more about
where the family moved. Ask them what else can go in this box [prepositional phrases acting
as adverbs] and replace ‘here’ with ‘in a hurry’ on the sentence wall. Point out that if we
parsed the new sentence, we would put orange brackets around this phrase because it tells
us more about how the family moved. Now write ‘The family moved because the house was
too small’ on the board. Identify the two clauses in this complex sentence and discuss what
the subordinate clause tells us about the verb in the main clause [it tells us why the family
moved]. Put orange brackets around ‘because the house was too small’ and write it in the box
under the verb in the sentence wall. Explain that any word, phrase or clause that acts as an
adverb in a sentence is called an adverbial. Adverbials tell us more about the main verb
(and also sometimes about the whole sentence), such as how, where, when or why it
happened. The most common adverbials are adverbs, noun phrases, prepositional phrases
and subordinate clauses. Adverbial noun phrases express time, telling us when [next Sunday,
this month, tomorrow afternoon], how often [every week, each year], or how long [all day, the
whole time] something happens. Write ‘The family moved last week’ on the board and put
orange brackets around ‘last week’. Then put the sentence into the ‘wall’, with the noun
phrase in the box under the verb. Tell the class that when adverbials go at the start of a
sentence, they are called fronted adverbials, which we usually follow with a comma.

Grammar Sheet 19: The children write inside the outlined word Adverbs, using an orange
pencil. They then find the adverbial in each sentence, put orange brackets around it, and decide
what it is telling them about the verb [1. because I had the hiccups (why), 2. carefully (how),
3. on Tuesday (when), 4. in silence (how), 5. wherever he goes (where), 6. next month (when),
7. in her hands (where), 8. last year (when), 9. at the beach (where), 10. for my birthday (why),
11. rhythmically (how), 12. when we were young (when)]. They then rewrite six sentences so
each has a fronted adverbial, separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma.

Extension activity: Write some adverbials on the board, such as ‘across the room’, ‘as it
was late’, ‘this morning’ and ‘suddenly’ for the children to put into sentences. Remind the
children that if they use a fronted adverbial, they must follow it with a comma.

Rounding off: Go over the sheet/extension activity with the class, discussing the answers.

Pages taken from The Grammar 6 Handbook.

136 137
JL720_GH6_3 Lessons_BEpc_pp41_223:GH6 19/12/16 16:34 Page 138

Orange

Adverbs Adverbials
An adverbial is any word, phrase or clause that acts as an adverb in a sentence.
The most common adverbials are adverbs, noun phrases, prepositional phrases
and subordinate clauses. They tell us more about, for example, where, when,
how or why the verb is happening.

Identify the adverbial in each sentence and put orange brackets around it. Then
decide what the adverbial is telling us about the verb.

1. I drank some water (because I had the hiccups). How? • Where? • When? • Why?

2. Tom carefully drew a square and a rhombus. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

3. They had rhubarb and custard on Tuesday. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

4. The hungry wolf hunted its prey in silence. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

5. Grandpa wears a suit wherever he goes. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

6. There will be a gymkhana next month. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

7. Grandma has rheumatism in her hands. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

8. The zoo received a white rhino last year. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

9. Anna wore her khaki shorts at the beach. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

10. I got some new moccasins for my birthday . How? • Where? • When? • Why?

11. The little brown crickets chirped rhythmically. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

12. We loved nursery rhymes when we were young. How? • Where? • When? • Why?

An adverbial that begins a sentence is called a fronted adverbial. We usually use a comma
to separate a fronted adverbial from the rest of the sentence. Choose six of the sentences
above and rewrite them so the adverbial is at the beginning, followed by a comma.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

Pages taken from The Grammar 6 Handbook. Grammar Sheet 19 (GH6)

138 139