Page 1 of 4/ Lesson 40
Grammar I Graciela Palacio
LV/UB 2012
LESSON 40
REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSES: PEDAGOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
A reduced relative clause is a clause where the relative and the finite verb/auxiliary are
silent, for example:
The man driving the lorry was drunk.
The man driving the lorry is related to the man who was driving the lorry. Within the relative
clause the relative who and in this case, the auxiliary for the imperfective/progressive aspect
have no phonological features (i.e. they are silent).
Another example:
The goods ordered last month have just arrived.
The goods ordered last month is related to the goods which were ordered last month. In this
case, the relative which and the auxiliary for the passive are silent.
The notion of reduced relative clause is useful from a pedagogical point of view. From a
theoretical point of view, we will speak of non-finite relative clauses.
Now students always confuse them with the so called “contact clauses”. What is a contact
clause?
A contact clause is a clause where the complementiser that is silent, i.e. has no phonological
features. In a contact clause there is only one element which is silent. It may be the
complementiser of a noun clause, as in:
I believe he is honest. (instead of I believe that he is honest)
Or the complementiser of a relative clause, as in:
The book I want is expensive. (instead of The book that I want is expensive)
To sum up: There are contact that noun clauses and contact relative clauses. But in both
cases there is only one element which is not pronounced. In what way do reduced relative
clauses (if they exist) differ from contact clauses? In a reduced relative clause there are
always several elements that are silent: the relative, the complementiser and the finite
verb/auxiliary.
Reduced relative clauses can be of two types:
1) Verbless (i.e. clauses that lack a verb)
The people who are present will know how to judge the case.
The people ----- ---- present will know how to judge the case.
