Relative clauses: mudskipper
The Grammar Bit!
Read the three sentences opposite. They each contain a relative clause (bold). A relative clause gives the reader extra information about the preceding noun.
In a relative clause, this extra piece of information is introduced by a relative pronoun (underlined). There are five basic relative pronouns: who, which, that, whose and whom.
It is important to note the following:
who – is used when referring to a person
which – is used when referring to a place, animal or thing
that – can refer to a person, place, animal or thing
With your talk partner, read each sentence with the relative clause and then without the relative clause. What do you notice?
Scintillating Sentences
1) Marcus the speckled mudskipper, who was preparing to impress a female, rolled in the mud.
2) The female mudskipper, whose eyesight was excellent, spotted a good-looking male.
3) The bug-eyed mudskipper had unusual fins beneath its body, which enabled it to skip, jump and even climb trees.
Mudskippers eat the mud that they spend all day wallowing in. Now that’s mudness!