Test Relative Clauses

Part I. Re-write the following pairs of sentences by changing the sentence in parentheses ( ) into a relative clause.

EXAMPLE: The man (the man is eating an ice cream cone) is my friend. The man who is eating an ice cream cone is my friend.

1. The major problem (we face the problem) is overpopulation. ________________________________________________________________________

2. The population of the world (we live in the world) is increasing. _______________________________________________________________________

3. To raise the food and other farm products (people need the food and other farm products) we have to have more land. _______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

4. The size of the piece of land (each person gets his food from the piece of land) has to decrease. _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

5. Farmers need fertilizer (they can use the fertilizer to increase productivity). _____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

Part II. For each sentence below, remove the relative pronoun if what is left still makes a good English sentence. You may remove one other word if necessary.

EXAMPLE: The car that I bought is white

1. A lawnmower is a machine that cuts grass. _____________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

2. The women who is operating the camera is wearing a white shirt and dark slacks. __ __________________________________________________________________________

3. The presents which Phil buys his friends are not expensive. _________________________________________________________________________

4. He sends cards to people who he works with. __________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

5. The wood which Jill makes things out of comes from all over the world. __ _ _________________________________________________________________________ _

6. A kitchen is a room which has a cooking stove. ________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

7. Jane is applying to universities whose faculty are top scholars. _________________________________________________________________________ _

8. The man who is in the doorway is holding a gun. ______________________ _________________________________________________________________________

9. The girls who are swimming in our pool are my sisters. _____________ ________________________________________________________________________

10. The man got sick who Jeff plays bridge with. _________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

PART III. Combine these sentences into one sentence using relative clauses.

EXAMPLE: I know a little boy. He has a new bike.

I know a little boy who has a new bike.

1. I have a friend. He can help you. __________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

2. Do you see those people? I ate lunch with them yesterday. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

3. The dog is friendly. He barked as we walked past. _________________ ________________________________________________________________________

4. The house is comfortable. I live there. _____________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

5. Those oranges were sour. We ate four of them. _______________________ _________________________________________________________________________

6. I gave the scientist's son a job. The scientist arrive yesterday. __ _________________________________________________________________________

7. I took a vacation last week. It was pleasant. _____________________ ______________________________________________________________________

8. I don't remember the man's name. It was difficult to pronounce. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

9. I know a woman. Her son lives on a boat. ___________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

10. Have you seen the club? There is a good swimming pool there. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________