Introducing Santa Claus (and the relative clause! Ho ho ho!)

The Traditional American Santa Claus
Do you know this man? He wears red and white clothes. He has a long white beard. He carries a bag of toys.  He travels by sleigh. And he only works one day a year!

This is Santa Claus of of course. He is a mythical character who delivers toys to children the night before Christmas. In the Christmas story that people tell in the United States Santa Claus lives at the North Pole. He and his elves make toys there. On Christmas Eve night be brings toys to children. He rides through the sky in a magic sleigh which is pulled by reindeer. He comes into houses through the chimney and puts presents under the Christmas tree.


Santa Claus in Other Countries
But other countries have their own stories about Santa Claus. In the Netherlands, "Sinterklass" comes from Spain. According to the legend he rides over the rooftops on a magic horse and his helper, "Zwarte Piet." Zwarte Piet goes down the chimney and leaves presents. Children that have been bad don't get presents. Zwarte Piet puts them in a bag and takes them to Spain. The name Sana Claus comes from the Dutch name Sinterklass.





"Ded Moroz" is the Russian Santa Claus. His name means "Grandfather Frost." Ded Moroz delivers toys to children on New Year's Day. He always travels with a young girl who wears a blue robe and a crown that looks like a snow-flake. She is the Snow Maiden, his granddaughter and helper. Ded Moroz travels in a troika. A troika is a sleigh which is pulled by three horses.

In Italy there is no Santa Claus. Children who live in Italy get presents from "Befana", an old woman who rides throught the air on a broomstick. Like Santa Claus and Zarte Piet she comes into the house through the chimney. She leaves presents and candy in the stockings of children who have been good. Children who have been bad get lumps of coal.






Can you find all the relative clauses in the story?

Click on Read More for the Grammar Breakdown and some exercises.

Relative Pronouns Part One: Modifying a Subject

That is the dog that ate my hat.
They live in a house which is very big.
I have a sister who lives in Florida.

That, which, who, whom and whose are relative pronouns. The name "relative pronoun" probably isn't important. What is important is the function.

A phrase that begins with a relative pronoun gives more information about some other part of the sentence. In this case, the subject of the sentence. It's a lot like an adjective,  relative pronoun phrases come after the noun (or noun phrase) that they modify. Modify means to give more information.

Modifying Things
That and which can be at the start of phrases that modify things.

The car that I drive has a nice stereo.
The car which I drive has a nice stereo.

Both okay.

The  man which drives the BMW is a lawyer. 

Is not okay.

Modifying People
To modify people you must use the who, whom, or whose.

The man who I met yesterday is a doctor.

But that can used for people or things.

The woman that lives next door is a teacher.
The woman who lives next door is a teacher.

Both okay.

You an use a relative pronoun to use the information in two sentences to make one sentence.

They have a bird.   The bird can talk.
They have a bird that can talk.  

Exercise 1.  Use a relative pronoun to take the information in two sentences to make one.

1.  I have a dog.                        The dog is ten years old.
2.  John wants a computer.        John wants a computer with a lot of memory.
3.  She has a sister.                    The sister goes to university.
4.  He lives in a house.              The house has twelve rooms.


(Look for the answer at the bottom of the page.)

Relative Pronouns Part Two: Modifying an Object

Larry ate the cake that my mother baked.
The person whom I met yesterday is from Canada.
Where are the books which I bought yesterday?

In these cases the relative pronoun phrase doesn't modify the subject of a sentence. It modifies a word which is the object of a verb.

cake is the object of bakedperson is the object of metbooks are the object of bought 

When the relative clause phrase modifies a person who is the object of a verb we use whom or whose

The woman whom he married is a wonderful cook.
Will the person whose car is blocking the driveway please move it.

This is important.

When the relative pronoun phrase modifies a word that is the object of verb you can omit the relative pronoun.

So.

Larry ate the cake my mother baked.
The person I met yesterday is from Canada.
Where are the books I bought yesterday.

Are all okay.

Exercise 2. Choose the sentences that can omit the relative pronoun. 

1. Did you find the keys that you lost?
2. The computer which I am using is very old.
3. The man that borrowed my bicycle didn't bring it back.
4. He has a dog that barks all night.
5. She's the one that can't eat peanuts.

One last thing

Is there a difference between that and which?

Look at these two sentences.

The town in which I was born keeps getting bigger.
The town in that I was born keeps getting bigger.

You can combine prepositions with which but you can't with that.





Answer Key
Exercise 1.   1) I have a dog that/which is ten years old.  2) John wants a computer that/which has a lot of memory. 3) She has a sister who/that goes to university.  4)  He lives in a house that/which has twelve rooms.

Exercise 2.  1)  omit okay  2)  omit okay  3)  not okay 4)  not okay  5)  not okay