關係子句 (Relative Clauses)

關係子句係由關係代名詞 (who, which, that, whom, whose) 或關係副詞 (when, where, why) 所引導的形容詞子句。

關係子句既然是子句，本身必須具有主詞和動詞，有些時候關係代名詞也同時兼有主詞的角色，後面直接跟著動詞，如下面第二種形式。

關係子句的三種形式:

1. 關係子句 = 關係代名詞 + 主詞 + 動詞 + ...

Jane has a teacher whom she respects.

珍有一位她尊敬的老師。

關係子句"whom she respects"：主詞 she，動詞 respects， 關係代名詞 whom。關係子句具有形容詞功能，它用來修飾先行詞 a teacher。

I like the watch that my father gave me.

我喜歡父親給我的這支手錶。

關係子句"that my father gave me"：主詞 my father，動詞 gave， 關係代名詞 that。關係子句具有形容詞功能，它用來修飾先行詞 the watch。

2. 關係子句 = 關係代名詞 + 動詞 + ...

I am looking for a secretary who speaks English well.

我正在尋找一位會說流利英語的秘書。

關係子句"who speaks English well" 具有形容詞功能，用來修飾先行詞 secretary。

I live in a house which is 100 years old.

我住在一棟有 100 年歷史的房子裡。

關係子句 "which is 100 years old" 具有形容詞功能，用來修飾先行詞 house。

I have an aunt who teaches English at my school.

我有一個姨媽，她在我的學校教英語。

關係子句"who teaches English at my school" 具有形容詞功能，用來修飾先行詞 aunt。

He has a dog which barks loudly at night.

他有一隻狗晚上吠叫很大聲。

關係子句"which barks loudly at night" 具有形容詞功能，用來修飾先行詞 dog。

3. 關係子句 = 關係副詞 + 主詞 + 動詞 + ...

I remember the day when we first met.

我記得我們第一次見面的那一天。

關係子句"when we first met"：主詞 we，動詞 met， 關係副詞 when (副詞 first）。關係子句具有形容詞功能，它用來修飾先行詞 the day。

I spent most of my life around the city where I was born.

我一生的大部分時間都在我出生的城市度過。

關係子句"where I was born"：主詞 I，動詞 was born， 關係副詞 where 。關係子句具有形容詞功能，它用來修飾先行詞 city。

That was another reason why I thought this could end really bad.

這就是為什麼我認為這可能會很糟糕的另一個原因。

關係子句"why I thought this could end really bad"：主詞 I，動詞 thought， 關係副詞 why。關係子句具有形容詞功能，它用來修飾先行詞 another reason。

限定性(restrictive)和非限定性(non-restrictive)關係子句。

關係子句是由關係代名詞起頭的子句，關係子句有限定性(restrictive)和非限定性(non-restrictive)兩種用法。

限定性關係子句用來限定或修飾先行詞，前面通常不加逗號(,)。who, whom, whose, which, that 均可用於限定性的關係子句。限定性關係子句含有句子的重要信息，拿掉限定性關係子句，句子的意義會有重大的改變。

I like the paintings.

我喜歡那些油畫。

哪些油畫？我們無法清晰地表達。

I like the paintings that hang in our living room.

我喜歡那些掛在我們客廳裡的油畫。

利用關係子句來限定或修飾 paintings，它給了我們重要的信息來描述那些油畫。

非限定性關係子句用來補充或附加說明先行詞，前面通常有逗號(,)。拿掉非限定性關係子句，句子的意義不會有重大的改變。非限定性的關係代名詞不能省略。關係代名詞 that 不能用於非限定性的關係子句。

Teresa, who is good at English, is thinking about starting a cram school.

Teresa，她英文好，正在考慮創辦補習班。

非限定性關係子句"who is good at English"前面要有逗號(,)，關係代名詞 who 不能省略。

The article, which appeared today in Taipei Times, is very interesting.

這篇文章，出現在今天的台北時報，是很有趣的。

非限定性關係子句"which appeared today in Taipei Times" 用來補充或附加說明先行詞 article，關係代名詞 which 不能省略。

• 他的女友，是個出色的廚師，想開一家餐館。
• His girlfriend, that is an excellent cook, is thinking about opening a restaurant.
• His girlfriend, who is an excellent cook, is thinking about opening a restaurant.

非限定性關係子句使用 "of whom"， "of whose" 或 "of which"

比較下面的一些句子：

Andy has two sisters. Both of them are teachers.
Andy has two sisters, both of whom are teachers.

Andy有兩個姐姐。兩人都是教師。

第一個句子是由兩個單句所組成；第二個句子則是帶有關係代名詞whom的複句。
注意：第一個句子 Both 前面是個句號(.)，而第二個句子 both 前面是個逗號(,)。

• Mike 有兩個哥哥，他們兩人都為政府工作。
• Mike has two brothers, both of them work for the government.
• Mike has two brothers, both of whom work for the government.

There are many students in this classroom. Some of their mothers are from Southeast Asia.
There are many students in this classroom, some of whose mothers are from Southeast Asia.

這個教室裡有很多學生，有些學生的母親是來自東南亞。

第一個句子是由兩個單句所組成；第二個句子則是帶有關係代名詞whose的複句。

I read three books last week. None of them were enjoyable.
I read three books last week, none of which were enjoyable.

上週我讀了三本書，沒有一本是讓人喜歡的。

第一個句子是由兩個單句所組成；第二個句子則是帶有關係代名詞which的複句。書表事物不是人，故用 which，不用 whom。

Elected in a landslide in January, Tsai is the island’s first female president, and only its second from the Democratic Progressive Party – many of whose members advocate formal independence from China.

元月壓倒性的勝選，蔡是島上第一位女性總統，也是僅有的第二位來自民進黨 – 許多它的成員主張從中國正式獨立。

whose members 指 members of the Democratic Progressive Party。

• 這個球隊，許多球員來自南台灣，今年奪得冠軍。
• The team, many of their players come from southern Taiwan, won the championship this year.
• The team, many of whose players come from southern Taiwan, won the championship this year.

• Beijing’s pursuit of sovereignty over the islands of the South China Sea, most of them are also claimed by other countries, has flung China’s neighbors into the arms of the United States.
• Beijing’s pursuit of sovereignty over the islands of the South China Sea, most of which are also claimed by other countries, has flung China’s neighbors into the arms of the United States.