甘肃 董耀忠
例析定语从句结构 解读关系词之考点
甘肃 董耀忠
定语从句是贯穿整个高中阶段的语法学习重点,也是高考考查的热点,是一种形容词性从句,有限制性和非限制性从句之分。纵观历年各地高考考题的特点,根据先行词确定关系代词或关系副词是考查的重点,概括起来主要有以下几个方面。
定语从句中先行词为物时,关系代词用which/that。如果关系代词在从句中作宾语,且前无介词时,可以省略;但在非限制性定语从句中只用which,且不可省略。如:
A dictionary is a book which/that gives the meanings of words and phrases.(作主语,不可省略)
The dictionary(which/that) you need is sold out in the bookshop.(作宾语,可省略)
【高考链接】(2016上海卷,27)She was taking the food to the refugee camp,in_______she distributed it to children.
【试题分析】which。句意为“她把食物送往难民营,在难民营里分发给孩子们。”in which引导非限制性定语从句,which指代前面的“the refugee camp”。
【考点点睛】定语从句的先行词不论是人还是物,均为清晰可见的概念名词,诸如man,girl,book,school等,此题中“the refugee camp”为疑难词汇且确定先行词时容易受简单词food的干扰。因此,要特别做好对主从句句子结构的分析,找到共有词,并确定其在从句中的位置。此题中,camp就是共有词,即为先行词。此外,还须注意:从句中先行词是everything,something,nothing等以及指物的all,one,little,few,much,none等时,关系代词常用that。如:
Something (that) we heard was of great truth.
All that glitters (闪光) is not gold.
定语从句中先行词为人时,关系代词常用who/whom/ that。如果关系代词在从句中作宾语,且前无介词时,可以省略;但在非限制性定语从句中只用who/whom,不用that,且不可省略。如:
His mother won’t let him marry the girl who/that doesn’t get a job. (限制性,作主语,不可省略)
The old man (whom) I spoke to yesterday is inhospital now.(限制性,作宾语,可以省略)
His father,who likes painting ,is a teacher.(非限制性,作主语,不可省略)
Mr. White,whom I talked with you about just now,is from Canada. (非限制性,作宾语,不可省略)
【高考链接】(2013重庆卷,24)John invited about 40 people to his wedding,most of________are family members.
【试题分析】whom。非限制性定语从句,先行词为“people”,用whom来代替people置于介词of后,连接主从句。
【考点点睛】在介词提前的定语从句中,用代入法确定关系词最为有效。此题后半句可还原为“most of people are family members”。此外,还须注意:从句中先行词是somebody(-one),anybody (-one),nobody(-one)等以及指人的one,all,few,none等不定代词,且在从句中充当非状语成分,尤其是关系代词在从句中充当主语时,常优先用who,也可用that。如:
Anyone who agrees may come with me.
定语从句中先行词为that/those时,若代指人,关系代词用who,代指物则用which。如:
We need to take care of that,which is useful for us.(先行词that代指物)
【高考链接】(2013湖南卷,21)Happiness and success often come to those________are good at recognizing their own strengths.
【试题分析】who。空格前的代词those指代“人”,为先行词,且在定语从句中作主语,故用who引导定语从句。句意为“幸福和成功往往降临到那些善于认识到自己优点的人身上。”
【考点点睛】先行词为that或those时,理清句意,判定其代指人还是物为关键。此外,类似于此的还有:先行词用one还是the one有区别,如:It is the one we want to buy.(为限制性定语),The best job is one that uses your skills with your interesting.(为描述性定语);从句中先行词为人称代词时,常用关系代词who,如:He who knows others is learned,and he who knows himself is wise.(知人者智,自知者明)
定语从句中不论先行词为人还是物,如果代替它的关系代词在从句中作定语,用whose。如:
The boy whose father is an engineer is called Tom.
The house whose roof was damaged has now been repaired.
【高考链接】(2015四川卷,3)The books on the desk,_______covers are shiny,are prizes for us.
【试题分析】whose。先行词为“the books”,和covers之间存在所有关系。句意为“桌上的书是给我们的奖励,那些书的封面闪闪发光。”
【考点点睛】whose在定语从句中担当定语,和其后的名词之间存在所有关系,还是比较容易判断的。此题中如果在covers之前加上定冠词the,则需要用of+which结构,即此题变为:The books on the desk,of which the covers are shiny,are prizes for us。此外,还须注意:
“whose+n.”结构常在考查中体现为:the+n.+of which...(表物),或the+n.+of whom...(表人)。如:There are seventy students in our class ,whose backgrounds / the backgrounds of whom are various.
定语从句中先行词被形容词最高级,any,some,only,all,every,no,some,much,few,little等或the only,the last,the very等表示唯一概念的序数词修饰时,关系代词常用that。如:
That is the best film (that) I have ever seen.(被最高级修饰)
The first book (that) he wrote is about population.(被序数词修饰)
You’re the only friend (that) I have.(被the only修饰)
【高考链接】(2014陕西卷,13)Please send us all the information_______you have about the candidate for the position.
【试题分析】that。从句里have 是及物动词,缺少宾语。当然,关系代词that在从句中充当宾语成分时也可省略不填。但是虽缺少宾语可绝不能为what,因为不是名词性从句。
【考点点睛】确定了定语从句的先行词之后,看清先行词的被修饰词也很重要。又如so,as,the same,such等修饰先行词或such,the same等直接充当先行词时,关系代词由固定搭配词as来引导。如:It wasn’t such a good dinner as she has promised us。此外,还须注意:the same或其修饰的名词充当先行词时,随着语境、语意的变化,有时也可用that来引导定语从句,如:He made the same mistakes as I made yesterday. (用as,意为“与……类似”,指同类中的人或物);It’s just the same pen that I lost yesterday.(用that,意为“与……一样”,指同一个人或物)。
定语从句中先行词为表示某种“情况、境况”抽象概念的state,point,case,situation等时(实为从句的状语成分),其后定语从句常由where引导,相当于“介词+which”。如:
I think you have got to the point,where change is needed,or you’d fail.
【高考链接】(2012重庆卷,29)Sales director is a position_______communication ability is just as important as sales.
【试题分析】where。“position”为先行词,后面是其定语从句,关系词在从句中作地点状语,因此,应该使用关系副词where来引导定语从句。
【考点点睛】代入法和句子结构分析是选择关系词的最好技巧。又如(2015浙江卷,19)Creating an atmosphere in which employees feel part of a team is a big challenge.将先行词“atmosphere”代入从句应为“in the atmosphere”。
在非限制性定语从句中,如果先行词为表示人或物的一个词时,常可用who,whose,whom或which引导从句,但不用that,且从句必须置于主句后;如果先行词为一个句子,且从句位置灵活,关系代词在从句中有“正如……就像……”的语意,常只用as来引导定语从句,反之当从句只置于主句后,且关系代词无语意,只有语法连接作用,整个句子所表示的先行词不论说人还是事,均由which来引导定语从句。如:
The meeting,which was held in the park,was a success.(先行词为meeting)
My brother,who now lives in ShangHai,is a teacher.(先行词为my brother)
He married her ,which (as) was natural .(先行词为“He married her”整个句子)
As I explained on the phone ,your question will be considered.(定语从句在前,先行词为“your question will be considered”整个句子)
【高考链接】(2015湖南卷,29)It is a truly delightful place,________looks the same as it must have done 100 years ago with its winding streets and pretty cottages.
【试题分析】which。此句是一个非限制性定语从句,先行词是place,在定语从句中作主语,故应用关系代词which引导。句意为“这真是一个令人愉快的地方,这里蜿蜒的小路和美丽的小村庄一定和100年前看起来是一模一样的。”
【考点点睛】考生要掌握在什么情况下用关系副词,什么情况下用关系代词以及各自的意义。非限制性定语从句是先行词的附加说明,去掉了也不会影响主句的意思,它与主句之间通常用逗号分开。非限制性定语从句还能将整个主句作为先行词,对其进行修饰,这时从句谓语动词要用第三人称单数形式,如:The number of smokers,as is reported,has dropped by 17 percent in just one year。关系代词that和关系副词why不能引导非限制性定语从句。
定语从句中先行词为表示时间、地点、原因等的名词,且在从句中作状语成分时,要用when/where/why等关系副词来引导定语从句,当然也可以用“介词+which”的结构替换使用。
【高考链接】(2014江苏卷,22)The book has helped me greatly in my daily communication,especially at work ________a good impression is a must.
【试题分析】where。先行词是“work”,后面的定语从句“a good impression is a must”的句子结构完整,所以应用关系副词where在从句中作状语。句意为“在日常交流中这本书帮助了我很多,尤其是在需要有良好印象的工作之中。”
【考点点睛】当先行词为表示时间、地点、原因等的词或直接为time,place,reason等时,定语从句也不一定用when,where和why引导。还须注意:
①当先行词为the reason且在从句中作状语时,常用why/for which引导定语从句;而在充当其他成分时,常用that/which/不填来引导从句。如:
Tell me the reason why you were late.
Tell me the reason (that) you were told.
②当先行词为the way且在定语从句中作状语时,用that/in which/省略不填的方式引导定语从句;而在充当宾语等其他名词性成分时,常用that/which/省略的方式连接从句。如:
The way,that/which/不填he explained to us,was quite simple.
The way,that/in which/不填 he explained the sentences,was quite simple.
③当先行词为time 时,若表示“次数”,用that引导定语从句;否则用when,during/in which (在从句中充当时间状语成分),或用that/不填(在从句中充当主语或宾语成分)。如:
This was a time when/during which there were no radios.
This is the second time that the president has visited the country.
先行词/关系代词在定语从句中作介词的宾语时,该介词可前置在which,whom之前;但如果该介词在后面从句中与其他成分搭配十分紧密或为固定词组(动词短语、介词短语等)时,该介词不可提前,否则须将整个介词短语提前(常为“介词+名词+of which/whom”结构;“名词+ of which/whom”结构和“不定代词/数词+of which/ whom”结构);如果该介词在从句中表示所属关系,则必须提前。如:
He built a telescope through which he could study the skies.(介词though提前)
This is the key (which) you are looking for.(look for为固定词组,介词for未提前)
He works in a factory,at the back of which there is a river.(at the back of为“介词+名词+of”结构)
The names,of which he remembered some,were all strange to me.(相当于“some of which he remembered”)
【高考链接】(2015重庆卷,14)He wrote many children’ s books,nearly half of_______were published in the 1990s.
【试题分析】which。先行词是“books”,定语从句中of缺少宾语。句意为“他写了许多儿童书籍,几乎一半在1990年左右出版。”
【考点点睛】定语从句用关系代词还是关系副词,取决于从句中的谓语动词,不及物动词后面无宾语,应用关系副词或“介词+关系代词”;而及物动词后接宾语,则用关系代词。如:
Do you know the girl to whom he was speaking?
Do you know the girl (that) he was speaking to?
间隔式定语从句即为先行词与定语从句被其他句子成分隔开的定语从句,确定关系词之前应找准先行词。定语从句中,有时有插入语,答题分析时应删去插入语,再利用相关法则选择恰当的关系词。如:
The film brought the hours to me when I was in my hometown with my family.(hours为先行词)
The wrong you’ve done him is terrible ,for which I think you should make an apology to him.(“I think”为插入语)
【高考链接】(2012江苏卷,22)After the flooding,people were suffering in that area,________urgently needed clean water,medicine and shelter to survive.
【试题分析】who。根据对空格前后分句的分析可知,此处为定语从句,从句中缺少主语,依句意可知先行词为people,而非area。句意为“洪水过后,那个地区的人们正遭受着苦难,他们急需干净的水、药物及避难所才能生存下来。”
【考点点睛】分析间隔式定语从句和含有插入语的定语从句,关键在于理顺句子前后意思并确定先行词。如:He may win the competition,according to the present situation,in which case he is likely to get into the national team.(非限制性定语从句,“in which case”指代前面的“he may win the competition”)
(作者单位:甘肃省漳县第一中学)