Goal: Plan a general strategy for relative clauses
Note: Focus on the basics, including where relative clauses occur in matrix clauses.
Tip: Create examples to include modification of nouns in multiple clausal positions.
Work focus: Organize/Plan/Structure
Today’s goal is to plan a strategy for relative clauses, focusing first on the “big picture” elements, like where relative clauses should occur relative to the noun being modified in the matrix clause structure. As you work, it’s helpful to create a handful of clauses to work with so you can test out modification of nouns in multiple positions in the clause. For instance, you might have structures like:
- The person built the barn.
- The barn is red.
- A storm destroyed the barn.
- The person is my neighbor.
- I praised the person.
These structures can then be arranged in multiple ways, such as “The person who is my neighbor built the barn” or “The person built the barn that a storm destroyed.” You can then run through all the combinations and test where the relative clause will occur and see if that fits into your language system.