Relative Clause vs. Appositive
THE APPOSITIVE PHRASE An appositive is a word placed after another word to explain or identify it. The appositive always appears after the word it explains or identifies. It is always a noun or a pronoun, and the word it explains is also a noun or pronoun.
Example: My uncle, a lawyer, is visiting us. My teacher, Miss Marshall, is very strict.
An appositive phrase consists of the appositive and its modifiers which may themselves be phrases.
Example: My radio, an old portable, is in the repair shop. The boys climbed the mountain, one of the highest in the West.
THE RELATIVE CLAUSE
A relative clause—also called an adjective or adjectival clause—will meet three requirements. * First, it will contain a subject and verb. * Next, it will begin with a relative pronoun [who, whom, whose, that, or which] or a relative adverb [when, where, or why]. * Finally, it will function as an adjective, answering the questions What kind? How many? or Which one?
The relative clause will follow one of these two patterns: relative pronoun or adverb + subject + verb relative pronoun as subject + verb
Here are some examples:
Which Francine did not accept
Which = relative pronoun; Francine = subject; did accept = verb [not, an adverb, is not officially part of the verb].
Where George found Amazing Spider-Man #96 in fair condition
Where = relative adverb; George = subject; found = verb.
That dangled from the one clean bathroom towel
That = relative pronoun functioning as subject; dangled = verb.
Who continued to play video games until his eyes were blurry with fatigue
Who = relative pronoun functioning as subject; played = verb.
Avoid creating a sentence fragment.
A relative clause does not express a complete thought, so it cannot stand alone as a sentence. To avoid writing a fragment, you must connect each relative clause to a main clause. Read the examples below. Notice that the relative clause follows the word that it describes.
Example: My uncle, a lawyer, is visiting us. My teacher, Miss Marshall, is very strict.
An appositive phrase consists of the appositive and its modifiers which may themselves be phrases.
Example: My radio, an old portable, is in the repair shop. The boys climbed the mountain, one of the highest in the West.
THE RELATIVE CLAUSE
A relative clause—also called an adjective or adjectival clause—will meet three requirements. * First, it will contain a subject and verb. * Next, it will begin with a relative pronoun [who, whom, whose, that, or which] or a relative adverb [when, where, or why]. * Finally, it will function as an adjective, answering the questions What kind? How many? or Which one?
The relative clause will follow one of these two patterns: relative pronoun or adverb + subject + verb relative pronoun as subject + verb
Here are some examples:
Which Francine did not accept
Which = relative pronoun; Francine = subject; did accept = verb [not, an adverb, is not officially part of the verb].
Where George found Amazing Spider-Man #96 in fair condition
Where = relative adverb; George = subject; found = verb.
That dangled from the one clean bathroom towel
That = relative pronoun functioning as subject; dangled = verb.
Who continued to play video games until his eyes were blurry with fatigue
Who = relative pronoun functioning as subject; played = verb.
Avoid creating a sentence fragment.
A relative clause does not express a complete thought, so it cannot stand alone as a sentence. To avoid writing a fragment, you must connect each relative clause to a main clause. Read the examples below. Notice that the relative clause follows the word that it describes.
References: http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com http://www.sinclair.edu http://www.chompchomp.com