下载掌阅APP，畅读海量书库
立即打开
关系代词有：
who, whom, whose, that, which
它们都是用来引起定语从句的。这类代词通常起着纽带的作用，把从句和它修饰的词连接起来，同时又在从句中担任一个成分：
I met someone who said he knew you. 我碰到一个人，他说他认识你。（who引起定语从句，修饰someone, who=someone，在从句中作主语。）
The noise that he made woke everybody up. 他弄出的声音把大家都吵醒了。（that引起定语从句，修饰noise，在从句中作宾语，代表noise。）
I saw something in the paper which might interest you. 我在报上看到一点消息，可能会使你感兴趣。（which引起定语从句，修饰something，在从句中作主语，代表something。）
把它们称作关系代词是因为它们有关联作用，把引起的从句和所修饰的词联系起来，这种从句可称作关系从句（relative clauses），由于它修饰一个名词或代词，因而也叫定语从句（attributive clauses）。
The man who robbed her has been arrested. 抢她东西的人被捕了。
This is man who wanted to see you. 这就是要见你的那个人。
The man whom I saw told me to come back today. 我见到的那个人让我今天再来。
The students whom we examined last week were excellent. 我们上星期考核的学生都很优秀。
在口语中whom常可用who代替，但如紧跟介词，则不能用who代替：
Our doctor, who we all like very much, is leaving. 我们都非常喜欢的那个医生要走了。
如whom在从句中作宾语，且该从句是定语从句，常可省略：
The man（who）I saw told me to wait. 我见到的那个人让我等一会儿。
The girl（who/whom）I spoke to was a student. 和我讲话的女孩是个学生。
whom紧跟介词时不能用who代替：
That is the man about whom we were speaking. 他就是我们刚才谈论的人。
The man to whom I spoke was a foreigner. 和我讲话的那个人是外国人。
I know a boy whose father is an acrobat. 我认识一个男孩，他父亲是杂技演员。
There are still many people whose living conditions are miserable. 仍有许多人的生活条件是很艰苦的。
whose有时可指动物或无生命的东西：
The word, whose meaning escapes me, probably derives from Latin. 那个词可能源自拉丁文，它的意思我想不起来了。
I saw a film whose name I have forgotten. 我看了一部电影，名字我忘了。
a. He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree. （谚语）想吃果子就得爬树。
Can you think of anyone that could look after him? 你知道有谁能照顾他吗？
b. I reached the gate that opened onto the lake. 我走到临湖而开的那扇门前。
He expressed the hope that we would keep in touch with his firm. 他表示希望我们与他的公司保持联系。
当that在从句中作宾语时，常可省略：
This is the best hotel（that）I know. 这是我知道的最好的旅馆。
Who is the man（that）you were talking to? 刚才你在和谁讲话？
I want to take away the book which you showed me yesterday. 我想带走你昨天给我看的那本书。
She was not in the train which arrived just now. 她不在刚到的火车上。
当which在从句中作宾语时，常常可以省略：
This is the book（which）you want. 这是你要的书。
There are the difficulties（which）we got into. 这些就是我们碰到的困难。
which还可在从句中作介词的宾语：
The situation which he found himself in was difficult. 他的处境非常艰难。
He also had a gun with which to defend himself. 他还有一把自卫用的枪。
Read the passage to which I referred in my talk. 读一读我在讲话中提到的那段文字。
在这种从句中，只有which可以紧跟介词，that则不可以（上述最后两个例句中的which都不能换作that）。如果which不紧跟介词，则一般可换为that，也可以省略：
This is the house（which/that）I went into. 这就是我进去过的那座房子。
定语从句有两类：限制性定语从句（restrictive attributive clauses）和非限制性定语从句（non-restrictive attributive clauses）。
前面所给例句中基本上都包含限制性定语从句，它限制所修饰名词或代词的意义，一般来说，如把从句去掉，句子意思就不清楚，甚至失去意义。例如下面的句子，有定语从句时意思很清楚，若把从句去掉，句子或是变得模糊不清，或是变得没有意义：
This is the machine he design. 这就是他设计的机器。
（若把从句去掉，意思就不清楚了。）
Madame Curie was a woman we admired. 居里夫人是我们崇拜的女性。
（若把从句去掉，句子就失去了意义。）
把前面的例句都这样试一遍，你就会发现这些从句很重要，对说明所修饰词的意义不可或缺，是句子的主要组成部分。这类从句在翻译时也多译成一个定语（如“他设计的机器”“我们崇拜的女性”）。
另外有一种定语从句，与主句（句子的其他部分）关系不太紧密，对所修饰名词或代词的意思没有太大影响，把它们去掉，句子依然很完整；它们可以说是附加上去的，而且通常都有逗号把它们和句子的其他部分分开，这种从句被称为非限制性定语从句。这种从句只能由who（whom），whose和which引起：
Peter, who had been driving all day, suggested stopping at the next town. 彼得开了一天的车，他建议在下一个城镇停一停。
Anne, whose children are at school all day, is trying to get a job. 安妮的孩子们全天上学，她试着去找一份工作。
The 8:30 train, which is usually very punctual, was late today. 八点半那趟火车通常很准时，但今天晚点了。
这种句子在译成汉语时常表达为两个并列句，这从上面例句的译文中可以看出。在非限制性定语从句中不能用that作关系代词。
在非限制性定语从句中，which可以代表主句的一部分甚至全部，不仅限于一个名词或代词，它所引起的从句一般用来修饰整个主句：
I did this at nine o’clock, after which（=doing it）I sat some time reading the paper. 我九点钟做了这件事，之后我就坐着看了——会儿报纸。
He invited us to dinner, which was very kind of him. 他请我们去吃饭，这是他的好意。
which在从句中还可用作定语：
He advised me to hide behind the door, which advice I took at once. 他让我躲在门后，我立即照做了。
He studied computer science, which knowledge is very important today. 他学的是电脑，这门知识现在很重要。
which有时代表从句后面的成分：
He hung around for hours and, which was worse, kept me from doing my work. 他闲待了好几个小时，更糟糕的是，这使我也无法工作。
在书面语中，可写成独立的从句：
From it he learned a few lessons, which were later of value to him. 从中他得到了一些教训，这些在后来对他很有用处。
which还可和不定式一起用：
Allow me one minute in which to change my costume. 给我一点时间换装。
She has a little money in the bank, with which to help her mother. 她在银行存了一点钱，用来帮助她的母亲。
关于定语从句，我们将在第十九章做进一步讨论。