Page 216 - Basic English Usage

278 — 279 218

The grammar is not quite the same in the two kinds of clause. We use
that in identifying clauses, and we can leave out object pronouns. But in
non-identifying clauses, we cannot use that, and we cannot leave out
object pronouns. For details, see 280.
[> For whose, see 279. For what, see 278.

278 relative pronouns: what

1 Whatis different from other relative pronouns.
Other relative pronouns usually refer to a noun that comes before.
co
| gave her the money that she needed.
We use whatas | noun + relative pronoun | together.
The thing that I'd like most is a home computer.
(That refers to — repeats the meaning of — the money and the thing.)

| gave her what she needed. (What = the money that.)
What I'd like most is a home computer. (What = the thing that.)

2 Donot use what with the same meaning as that.
You can have everything (that) you like.
(NOT ... everything-what-yottike-)
The only thing that makes me feel better is coffee.
(NOT -Fhe-onty-thing-what ...)
We use which, not what, to refer to a whole sentence that comes before.
CY
Sally married George, which made Paul very unhappy.
(NOT... . whatmadePautvery unhappy: )
a. it joins clauses together

279
‘relative pronouns: whose
Whose is a possessive relative word. It does two things:

b. itis a ‘determiner’ (see 96), like his, her, its or their. Compare:
| sawa girl. Her hair came down to her waist.
| saw a girl whose hair came down to her waist.

This is Felicity. You met her sister last week.
This is Felicity, whose sister you met last week.
Our friends the Robbins — we spent the summer at their
farmhouse — are moving to Scotland.
Our friends the Robbins, at whose farmhouse we spent the summer,
are moving to Scotland.

[> For the interrogative pronoun whose, see 253.3.