Meanings into Words: Grade XII 

Unit 3

(Relating Past Events)

 

Follow up structures:

a) Sub+had+been+v4+obj

b) Sub+had+v3+obj

From student’s Book: Ex—3.3: page: 23 (Previous activities and actions)

Question: Explain in many ways what the following people had been doing or had done:

Example:

A: Shally was desperate.

B: She’d been drifting on the sea for five days..

C: She’d used up all her water….

D: She’d been trying to contact other boats on her radio…

E: But nobody had replied to her SOS calls….

1. A: Eventually Richard found a job that suited him.

      B: He’d been searching a job suitable for him…

      C: He’d been very tired searching a job…

      D: He’d been requesting the Manager to offer him a job…

      E: He’d been trying to find a job for many days…

2. A: When the Johnsons eventually got away on holiday, they felt they really deserved             it.

B: They had been thinking to go to india to spend their holiday for a long time.

C: They’d tried a lot for it.

D: They’d been asking their neighbours to accompany them.

E: Unfortunately, nobody had accepted their proposal.

3. A: BY the time the climbers reached the top of the mountain, they were exhausted.

    B: They’d been struggling hard to complete their mission.

    C: They’d used up all their energy.

    D: They’d been thinking to return to their camp a bit earlier.

    E: But they’d not been able to do so.

4. A: It was hardly surprising that Anthony fainted.

    B: He had been suffering from epilepsy.

    C: He had become unconscious many times.

    D: He had been taking medicines for epilepsy.

    E: But he had not been recovered.

5. A: Vivienne sighed with relief.

    B: She had been preparing for her final exams.

    C: She had continuously studied for 15 hours.

    D: She had been making a number of notes to get good marks.

    E: But nobody had believed her.

From work Book: unit: 3: Ex—3, page: 14 (Previous activities)

Question: Add 3 sentences about the following people, explaining what they had been doing:

1. Jack’s eyes were all red….

      a) He’d been peeling onions.

      b) He’d been watching TV for ten hours.

      c) He had been drinking wine.

2. Angela was out of breath…

      a) She had been running for three hours.

      b) She had been suffering from asthma.

      c) She had been climbing a mountain.

3. Peter was covered in dirt….

      a) He had been walking on a dusty road.

      b) He had been cleaning his living room.

      c) He had been working in his field.

4. Sheila felt very cold..

      a) She’d been taking bath in cold water.

      b) She’d been skiing.

      c) She’d been walking without wearing warm clothes.

5. Michael couldn’t stand up straight…

      a) He’d been suffering from back-ache.

      b) He’d been sitting cross-legged on the floor.

      c) He’d been feeling dizzy.

Relative clauses: (Related to the page no.25 of Std. Book)

Non-defining relative clause:

      A clause which gives extra information that could be left out without affecting the structure or meaning. Such clauses are normally introduced by who, which, whose, whom etc. (but not ‘that’). Secondly, the clauses are separately by commas at each end of the clause. For example: My grandfather, who is 87, goes swimming everyday. Thirdly, the relative pronouns like who, which, whose, whom, when, what etc. can never be omitted. Finally, the information incorporated in these clauses isn’t essential. It tells us more about something or someone.

 

Study the tables below:

                                                                Table 1

Relative adverbs	meaning	uses	examples
When	In/on which	Refers to a time expression	The day when we met him
Where	In/at which	Refers to a place	The place where we met him
why	For which	Refers to a reason	The reason why we met him

 

Table 2

Relative pronouns	uses	examples
Who	Subject or object pronoun for people	I told you about the woman who lives next door.
Which	Subject or object pronoun for animals or things	Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof?
Which	Referring to a whole sentence	He couldn’t read which surprised me.
Whose	Possession for people, animals or things	Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?
Whom	Object pronoun for people, especially  in non-defining relative clauses ( in defining RC’s we colloquially prefer who)	I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.
that	subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)	I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen.

 

Look at the examples below: (combine the sentences below using a relative clause)

 John shook me by the hand. He was sitting in the corner. I hadn’t met him before. His brother was in the army. He was in love with my sister etc.

 

John,

Who was sitting in the corner, Whom I hadn’t met before, Whose brother was in the army, Who my sister was in love with,  With whom my sister was in love,

Shook me by the hand.

(subject pronoun) (object pronoun) (possessive)   (+preposition)

 

NB: In non-defining relative clauses, after each clause commas are compulsory. This clause

gives extra information without which the sentence-meaning remains the same. Add the given sentence ‘Phil kept his foot pressed hard down on the accelerator’.

From Student’s Book: Ex—3.5: page: 25 (Additional Information/Relative clauses)

Question: Join the following sentences using a relative clause:

e.g. Phil was driving. He kept his foot pressed hard down on the accelerator. His hands         were tight on the wheel.

® Phil, who was driving, kept his foot pressed hard down on the accelerator; whose hands were tight on the wheel.

1. Phil was an excellent driver. Phil’s forehead was covered in sweat.

® phil, who kept his foot pressed hard down on the accelerator, was an excellent driver, whose forehead was covered in sweat.

2. Julia hadn’t wanted to come in the first place. The admiral had entrusted the papers to Julia. She had started to cry.

® a) Julia, who hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, had started to cry.

      b) Julia, to whom the admiral had entrusted the papers, had started to cry.

3. Alex had closed his eyes. It had been Alex’s idea to come. The success of the whole mission depended on Alex. Alex was grimly fingering his gun.

® a) Alex, who had closed his eyes, was grimly fingering his gun.

      b) Alex, whose idea had been to come, was grimly fingering his gun.

      c) Alex, on whom the success of the whole mission depended was grimly fingering his gun.

4. Alex had just taken the gun out of his pocket. Alex never went anywhere without his gun. Alex was grimly fingering his gun.

® a) Alex, who had just taken the gun out of his pocket, was grimly fingering his gun.

      b) Alex, who never went anywhere without his gun, was grimly fingering his gun.

5. The dog was sitting facing the back window. The dog loved travelling in fast cars. The dog seemed unconcerned.

® a) The dog, who was sitting facing the back window, seemed unconcerned.

      b) The dog, who loved travelling in fast cars, seemed unconcerned.

6. The truck was gaining on them all the time. They were trying so desperately to escape from the truck. A light machine gun was clearly visible on the truck. The truck was plying at a great speed.

® a) The truck, which was gaining on them all the time, was plying at a great speed.

      b) The truck, from which they were trying so desperately to escape, was plying at a great speed.

      c) The truck, on which a light machine gun was clearly visible, was plying at a great speed.

From Work Book: Ex—4: page: 15: (Relative clauses)

Follow-up structures or rules:

Write up to the bracket and then put a comma. After that choose appropriate relative pronoun from within the bracket. Then write the remaining part of the sentence in the bracket leaving out the pronoun.  Look at—

Expression outside bracket+ comma+ relative pronoun+ given sentence with the bracket without pronoun.

For example: Mary (She had been in a deep sleep) was woken up suddenly by a strange noise.

® Mary, who had been in a deep sleep, was woken up suddenly by a strange noise.

1. Finally Brown (Willis had been sharing an office with him) decided to retire.

® Finally Brown, with whom Willis had been sharing an office, decided to retire.

2. Mrs Aldrich (she was married with two children) never recovered consciousness.

® Mrs Aldrich, who was married with two children, never recovered consciousness.

3. The old house (the family had lived in it for 300 years) was finally sold.

® The old house, in which the family had lived for 300 years, was finally sold.

4. Mary noticed that he was wearing her ring (she had lost it five years before)

® Mary noticed that he was wearing her ring, which she had lost five years before.

5. Nobody liked the eldest son (old Lord Banbury had left all his money to him)

® Nobody liked the eldest son, to whom old Lord Banbury had left all his money.

6. He proudly showed me round his house (he had paid £100,000 for it).

® He proudly showed me round his house, for which he had paid £100,000.

7. He became quite fond of Brixton Prison (he had spent so much of his life there).

® He became quite fond of Brixton Prison, where he had spent so much of his life.

8. Harold ( she had always been in love with him) finally asked her to marry him.

® Harold, finally asked her to marry him, with whom she had always been in love.

9. Godfrey ( his parents had been in the theatre) decided to become an actor himself.

® Godfrey, whose parents had been in the theatre, decided to become an actor himself.

10. In 1948 ( he was still a student then) he joined the Conservative Party.

® In 1948, when he was still a student, joined the Conservative Party.

 

Outside the Book:

1. Join the following sentences together using a relative clause:

    

    a) There’s a woman living next door. She is a doctor.

® The woman, who is living next door, is a doctor.

    b) There are some words. They are difficult to translate.

® There are some words, which are difficult to translate.

    c) I was looking for a book. The book got lost yesterday.

® I was looking for a book, which got lost yesterday.

    d) Mrs Jha is going to spend her holidays in Birgunj. Her daughter lives there.

® Mrs Jha, whose daughter lives in Birgunj, is going to spend her holidays there.

    e) Hari passed his examinations. This is a good news.

® Hari passed his examinations, which is a good news.

2.  Join the following sentences together using a relative clause:

    

    a) The woman is wearing a red sari. She is my teacher.

® The woman, who is wearing a red sari, is my teacher.

    b) There are some books in the library. They are not for reading.

® Some books, which are in the library, aren’t for reading.

c) The place is called Anamnagar. I’ve been living there since 1990.

® The palce, where I’ve been living since 1990, is called Anamnagar.

d) My son went to Australia last week. I also bought a car last week.

® My son went to Australia last week, when I also bought a car.

e) Mrs Gautam is going to spend her holidays in Bangkok. Her son works there.

® Mrs Gautam, whose son works in Bangkok, is going to spend her holidays there.

f) I saw her at the gate. A man was lying there.

® I saw her at the gate, where a man was lying.

g) He had spent many years in Pokhara. He was born there.

® He, who had spent many years in Pokhara, was born there.

3. Rewrite these sentences adding an appropriate non-defining relative clause:

    a) Janak went back to Mahendranagar……………..

® Janak went back to Mahendranagar where he had spent many years.

    b) At last the N-cell managed to repair the telephone…………….

® At last the N-cell managed to repair the telephone, which hadn’t been working for a couple of days.

    c) The librarian, ………………, turned round suddenly.

® The librarian, who was arranging the books, turned round suddenly.

    d) We were all very grateful to Mr Pandey,…………………

® We were all very grateful to Mr Pandey, who saved our child from the fire.

    e) The driver, …………………, was rewarded.

® The driver, who saved two people from the accident, was rewarded.

4. Add an appropriate relative clause to these sentences:

    a) I’m very much grateful to Madan…………………

® I’m very much grateful to Madan, who lent me a lot of money in my need.

    b) I’m proud of my college,………………………..

® I’m proud of my college, where I’ve been studying for two years.

    c) The Road Department managed to repair the road, …………………………..

® The Road Department managed to repair the road, which was damaged for few days.

    d) The electricity Authority managed to repair the wire, ……………………..

® The Electricity Authority managed to repair the wire, which had to be repaired before.

    e) The boy,…………….. turned round suddenly.

® The boy, who was highly frightened with his teacher, turned round suddenly.

 

Q. Rewrite these sentences using an appropriate relative clause in the spaces given: (2073)

    a. The children couldn’t wait to get back to Namche, ..............................

        The children couldn’t wait to get back to Namche, where they studied many years.

 

The End of Unit 3