[General] The dropping of the relative pronoun in some relative clauses

[greystroke]

Hi everyone,


I have to teach my class ( Upper Intermediate) a lesson on relative clauses, especially where the relative pronoun is dropped. ( Eg. This is the shirt ( that) I'm going to wear.

Why is the relative pronoun not dropped in sentences with when ( time) and where ( place) . E.g's

December is the month when i usually go on holiday. ( December is the month I usually go on holiday sounds ok to me!)

January is the month when we celebrate the harvest season in India.

Goa is the place where I always feel relaxed.

Can someone clarify please?

Thanks,

Greystroke

 

[tzfujimino]

Hi everyone,


I have to teach my class ( Upper Intermediate) a lesson on relative clauses, especially where the relative pronoun is dropped. ( Eg. This is the shirt ( that) I'm going to wear.

Why is the relative pronoun not dropped in sentences with when ( time) and where ( place) . E.g's

December is the month when i usually go on holiday. ( December is the month I usually go on holiday sounds ok to me!)

January is the month when we celebrate the harvest season in India.

Goa is the place where I always feel relaxed.

Can someone clarify please?

Thanks,

Greystroke

Hello, greystroke.:-D

Well, all I can say is that 'when' and 'where' are relative adverbs, not relative pronouns.
When the relative pronoun functions as the object in the relative clause, it can be omitted.

"This is the shirt (that) I'm going to wear." - 'that' functions as the object in the relative clause.
If you split the sentence into two, it will be easier to understand:
"This is the shirt." "I'm going to wear it."

I hope you'll understand what I mean.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi everyone,


I have to teach my class (Upper Intermediate) a lesson on relative clauses, especially where the relative pronoun is dropped (eg This is the shirt (that) I'm going to wear.

Why is the relative pronoun not dropped in sentences with when (time) and where (place)? Examples:

December is the month when I usually go on holiday. ("December is the month I usually go on holiday" sounds OK to me!)

January is the month when we celebrate the harvest season in India.

Goa is the place where I always feel relaxed.

Can someone clarify please?

Thanks,

Greystroke

Firstly, note that we don't put a space after an opening bracket. It should (when correct) like this! See my corrections in red above.

Secondly, we do drop the "when" and "where" quite frequently. There is nothing wrong with "December is the month I usually go on holiday" or "Goa is the place I always feel most relaxed".

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hi everyone,


I have to teach my class ( Upper Intermediate) a lesson on relative clauses, especially where the relative pronoun is dropped. ( Eg. This is the shirt ( that) I'm going to wear.

Why is the relative pronoun not dropped in sentences with when ( time) and where ( place) . E.g's

December is the month when i usually go on holiday. ( December is the month I usually go on holiday sounds ok to me!)

January is the month when we celebrate the harvest season in India.

Goa is the place where I always feel relaxed.

Can someone clarify please?

Thanks,

Greystroke

As a general rule, a relative pronoun cannot be omitted when it is the subject of the following relative clause. In other cases it is often, but not always, optional.