Grammar : relative pronouns: Instruction and practice.

 

I. There are only a few relative pronouns in the English language. The most common are which, that, whose, whoever, who, and whom. It is necessary to note that relative pronouns who, whom are used for people; that, whose – for people, animals and things; which – for animals and things. Sometimes relative pronouns can be accompanied by propositions.

 

Translate the sentences into Russian:

1. It is an environmental friendly way of energy production in which biological mass is recycled and re-used.

2. However, in the present time there are several windmills that are used to generate required energy mostly for industrial uses.

3.This is the energy which the earth receives from the Sun. This is one of the most promising alternative energy sources, which will be available to the mankind for centuries to come.

4. It is an environmental friendly way of energy production in which biological mass is recycled and re-used.

5. Alternative sources of energy are the ones which do not cause any undesirable consequences to the environment, are renewable and are free!

6. Such a system, which produces cheap energy from our oceans, will probably take years or decades to develop.

7. Biomass is material that comes from plants and animals and contains energy that the sun has produced and, when burned, produces heat.

8. It was a Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhenius who was the first to state that the use of fossil fuel could contribute to global warming, way back in 1896.

9. A small company from Thailand “Vitamilk”, whose main field of expertise is soy milk production, found a solution to the problem of dead batteries. During their advertising campaign, the company has created a device that allows to use the remaining bits of energy from the used batteries.

10. In July, Tom Konrad gave an estimated range within which he expected ten stocks of natural gas to finish in 2015.

11. The main reason why many people today turn to alternative energy sources for their homes is that it gives them independence and freedom.

 

II. In some situations, the words why, when, and where can function as relative pronouns. They are usually used instead of at which, on which, in which, for which:

 

1. Solar power generators can be used to generate power in rural and remote areas where (in which) there is no reach of the conventional form of energy.

2. Wind power is an effective alternative source of energy in areas where (in which) the velocity of wind flow is high.

 3. The downside area is the place where (in which) alternative energy sources are not always available due to its specific locality.

4. A danger is the situation when (at which) something goes wrong with a nuclear power plant.

5. Do you know the reason why (for which) the research has been closed.

6. There isn’t a day when (on which) I don’t think about terrible consequences of the disaster. 

7. You can also find such panels on buildings in larger cities, or even on houses all around the globe, where (in which) people use solar energy for their household activities.

 

III. Which is always used to introduce relative clauses when they refer to the whole sentence:

 

1) For example, there might be times when the winds will not blow in its full force, which would mean that it will not move the turbines on the wind farms with proper force.

2) The team produced the gas continuously over four days until the wastewater ran out, which is significant,because comparable systems that produce chemicals from water have historically failed after a couple hours of use.

 

IV. Relative pronoun can be left out when it is the object of the verb. If it is the subject of the verb, we never leave it out. Compare two sentences:

 

1. Biomass as material comes from plants and animals and containsenergy (that) the sun has produced.

2. The term alternative energy also is used for energy derived from sources and technologies that do not involve the depletion of natural resources or significant harm to the environment.

Let’s summarise!