English Relative Clauses
Relative clauses in the English language are formed principally by means of relative pronouns. The basic relative pronouns are who, which, and that (who also has the derived forms whom and whose). Various grammatical and stylistic rules exist for determining which of the relative pronouns can be used in a given instance. In some cases (as in "This is the man I saw"), it is possible to omit the relative pronoun entirely.
English also uses free relative clauses, which have no antecedent – these can be formed with the pronoun what (as in "I like what you've done"), as well as with certain other forms such as who and whoever.
Read more about English Relative Clauses: Overview, Status of that, Free Relative Clauses, Non-finite Relative Clauses, Adverbial Types
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“Three elements go to make up an idea. The first is its intrinsic quality as a feeling. The second is the energy with which it affects other ideas, an energy which is infinite in the here-and-nowness of immediate sensation, finite and relative in the recency of the past. The third element is the tendency of an idea to bring along other ideas with it.”
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