DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES USING ‘THAT’
1. ‘The house that Annie Baker lived in was next to the lake.’
In this sentence, the main verb = ‘was‘.
The defining relative clause adds important information to the basic sentence. The defining relative clause = ‘that Annie Baker lived in‘. In this sentence, the defining relative clause gives us more information about the house. Because of the defining relative clause, we know that we are talking about Annie’s house and no one else’s.
The basic sentence = ‘The house was next to the lake’.
2. Look at this sentence from The Lake (Ch15): “He opened a ledger that he held in his hands.”
a. What is the main verb?
b. What is the defining relative clause?
c. What is the basic sentence?
3. Look at another sentence from The Lake (Ch15): “The office car that he was using was outside.”
a. What is the main verb?
b. What is the defining relative clause?
c. What is the basic sentence?
4. Can you re-arrange these fragments to make sentences?
a. |a Mercedes| |that Donnie Brown| |was| |The car| |usually drove|
b. |lived in| |was| |above the| |garage| |The apartment| |that Ben Green|
c. |rushed past| |was| |that| |The car| |a red Ford| |Ben Green|
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