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relative pronoun

Meaning of "relative pronoun" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

PRONUNCIATION OF RELATIVE PRONOUN

ˈrelətɪv ˈprəʊˌnaʊn


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF RELATIVE PRONOUN

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Relative pronoun is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES RELATIVE PRONOUN MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Relative pronoun

A relative pronoun marks a relative clause; it has the same referent in the main clause of a sentence that the relative clause modifies. An example is the English word that in the sentence "This is the house that Jack built," Here the relative pronoun that marks the relative clause "that Jack built," which modifies the noun house in the main sentence. That refers to house in the main clause and links two imagined sentences "This is a house" and "Jack built the house", where house is the same in both sentences. Not all instances of the word that are relative pronouns. In providing a link between a subordinate clause and a main clause, a relative pronoun is similar in function to a subordinating conjunction. Unlike a conjunction, however, a relative pronoun does not simply mark the subordinate clause, but also plays the role of a noun within that clause. For example, in the relative clause "that Jack built" given above, the pronoun "that" functions as the object of the verb "built".

Definition of relative pronoun in the English dictionary

The definition of relative pronoun in the dictionary is a relative pronoun is a word such as `who', `that', or `which' that is used to introduce a relative clause. `Whose', `when', `where', and `why' are generally called relative pronouns, though they are actually adverbs.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH RELATIVE PRONOUN

adnoun · breakdown · Bridgetown · brown · clown · countdown · crown · down · downtown · Georgetown · gown · noun · out-of-town · pronoun · Provincetown · renown · showdown · shutdown · takedown · town

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE RELATIVE PRONOUN

relative · relative aperture · relative atomic mass · relative biological effectiveness · relative clause · relative conjunction · relative density · relative frequency · relative humidity · relative major · relative major key · relative majority · relative minor · relative minor key · relative molecular mass · relative permeability · relative permittivity · relative probability · relatively · relativeness

WORDS THAT END LIKE RELATIVE PRONOUN

abstract noun · collective noun · common noun · concrete noun · count noun · countable noun · disjunctive pronoun · indefinite pronoun · mass noun · personal pronoun · possessive pronoun · proper noun · reflexive pronoun · singular noun · subject pronoun · uncountable noun · verbal noun

Synonyms and antonyms of relative pronoun in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «relative pronoun» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF RELATIVE PRONOUN

Find out the translation of relative pronoun to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of relative pronoun from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «relative pronoun» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

关系代词
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

pronombre relativo
570 millions of speakers
en

English

relative pronoun
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

सापेक्ष सर्वनाम
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

الضمير النسبي
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

относительное местоимение
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

pronome relativo
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

আপেক্ষিক সর্বনাম
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

pronom relatif
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

kata ganti relatif
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

Relativpronomen
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

関係代名詞
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

관계 대명사
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Tembung sulih
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

đại từ quan hệ
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

உறவினர் பிரதிபெயர்
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

सापेक्ष pronoun
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

ilgi zamiri
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

pronome relativo
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

zaimek względny
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

відносне займенник
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

pronume relativ
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

σχετική αντωνυμία
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

relatiewe voornaamwoord
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

relativpronomenet
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

relative pronomen
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of relative pronoun

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «RELATIVE PRONOUN»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of relative pronoun
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «relative pronoun».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about relative pronoun

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «RELATIVE PRONOUN»

Discover the use of relative pronoun in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to relative pronoun and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The syntax of the relative pronoun and its cognates ...
Obs. What is called the use of the article for the relative pronoun in Homer, is nothing more than this use of the direct construction. If we take the common example, rbv flaXt BtUbv <5uov, and analyse it, we have a verb which would take , in the ...
Alfred Day (LL.D.), 1844
2
The Syntax of Relative Clauses
At the next stage the correlative pronoun is reanalysed as a relative pronoun in the Comp of the relative clause, though it still bears the Case required by the matrix: (ii) NPl [(corjrelj ...] Finally, the reanalysed pronoun takes the Case assigned ...
Artemis Alexiadou, 2000
3
Jannach's German for Reading Knowledge
If the relative pronoun is the subject of its clause, the pronoun will be the first word in the translation, followed by the verb and its objects and adverbs generally in reverse order. If the relative pronoun isn't the subject, it should still be the first ...
Richard Korb, 2008
4
The Distribution of Pronoun Case Forms in English
McCreight (1988:74f) suggests that case agreement between the head of a relative and the relative pronoun can lead to multiple case assignment to the relative pronoun: "a relative pronoun may be assigned case within its clause and then ...
Heidi Quinn, 2005
5
Ergativity: Emerging Issues
In a relative clause, C has a feature [+pron] and a relative pronoun (relpro) is always base generated. When C's [+pron] feature is strong, it attracts the relative pronoun to [Spec, C], yielding the structure in (21 ) below. 21) [relpr0i[C[ till] If C's  ...
Alana Johns, Diane Massam, Juvenal Ndayiragije, 2007
6
Remedial English Language
Answers £q ^ Omission of the Relative Pronoun Whenever the Relative Pronoun is used in the accusative case, it is generally omitted. Examples: I am monarch of all I survey. The relative pronoun that after 'all' is omitted. Men must reap the ...
Dr. Malti Agarwal
7
Grammar for Teachers: A Guide to American English for Native ...
This is an important distinction ESL/EFL students need to learn because the function of the relative pronoun determines several different things. One way to distinguish the function of relative pronoun is to examine what is following the relative ...
Andrea DeCapua, 2008
8
Connectives as Discourse Landmarks
Role of the relative pronoun in the organization of discourse One may wonder about the role of the relative pronoun in such atypical ARCs, as opposed to coordinators/subordinators which do exist but are rejected in favour of a relative ...
Agnès Celle, Ruth Huart, 2007
9
Intermediate Arabic For Dummies
A relative pronoun in Arabic can appear anywhere a noun might. It could be the subject of its own verb. You could have a relative pronoun as the object of a verb within a relative clause. It also could be governed by a preposition. The relative ...
Keith Massey, 2008
10
Grammar and Vocabulary: A Resource Book for Students
We take, first, those with a relative pronoun in the who set (who, whom , whose), which refer back to a person: [1], [11] and [19a]. There is no example with whom, which occurs only rarely. Because this set makes a distinction between subject ...
Howard Jackson, 2002

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «RELATIVE PRONOUN»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term relative pronoun is used in the context of the following news items.
1
All About Relative Pronouns and Portmanteau Words
This week's column deals with two queries sent in by a reader from Chennai. The first query is about the relative pronoun “who” and the second query is about ... «The New Indian Express, Jul 15»
2
Comma Queen: Who/Whom for Dummies
“Who” and “whom” are relative pronouns, and the trick for choosing the right one is to switch the clause around so that you can substitute a personal pronoun. «The New Yorker, Jun 15»
3
Everyday Grammar: Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun relates to the noun it is describing. Relative pronouns introduce a relative clause. Think of relative clauses as long adjectives. Adjectives are ... «VOA Learning English, May 15»
4
A Lineup of Missteps
The relative pronoun functions as the subject of “was,” so we need “who,” not “whom.” •••. For-profit colleges have been under increased scrutiny at all levels of ... «New York Times, Apr 15»
5
Joe Bennett: The rules that are made to be broken
She meant the relative pronouns. "Whatever," she said. "Is there a rule? That's all I want to know," and I said it depends. "Certain authorities," I said, climbing ... «Taranaki Daily News, Mar 15»
6
Johnson: Grammar
But it was only a suggestion: he confessed that relative pronouns as of his time were already “an odd jumble”. The Lord's Prayer addresses our father which art ... «The Economist, Mar 15»
7
Becoming a pronoun-pro
“Once, a student of mine asked me for my own definition of a pronoun. ... can see subject, object, possessive, reflexive, demonstrative and relative pronouns!). «The Bogota Post, Feb 15»
8
The future of English includes an apostrophe-less 'thats'
For relative pronouns, on the one side we have "the person whom you met" and "the person who is coming;" on the other side, we have "the thing that you met" ... «The Week Magazine, Jan 15»
9
Ugly Disagreements
The verb in the relative clause should agree with the subject of the clause, in this case the relative pronoun “that.” And “that” is plural here because its ... «New York Times, Oct 14»
10
Subject, Meet Verb
So the relative pronoun “who,” referring to “at least one agency medical officer,” is also singular and needs a singular verb. (Even the phrase “more than one,” ... «New York Times, Aug 14»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Relative pronoun [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/relative-pronoun>. May 2024 ».
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