這類從句對清楚了解所修飾名詞的特徵是必不可少的:
The man who told me this refused to give me his name.
告訴我這件事的那個人拒不說出他的姓名。
who told me this 是關係從句。如果省略,句中所提到的那個人是誰就不清楚了。要注意,在被修飾的名詞和限定性關係從句之間不加逗號。
限定性關係從句常常跟在 the + 名詞之後,但也可以用於 a/ an + 名詞、不加 the 的複數名詞、代詞 all,none,anybody,somebody 等以及 those 之後。
a/an + 名詞、不帶 the 的複數名詞及 somebody/someone/something 之後的從句有時只是間接地限定這些名詞/代詞。
在這種情況下名詞/代詞常常是動詞或介詞的賓語:
I met someone who said he knew you.
我碰到了說自己認識你的一個人。
The book is about a girl who falls in love with…
這本書是關於一個女孩,她愛上了……
有時這些從句由一個詞或短語將它們與名詞/代詞分開:
There's a man here who wants…
這兒有個男人,他想要……
I saw something in the paper which would interest you.
我在報上看到了一些你會感興趣的東西。
但是,通常關係從句應該緊跟在它們修飾的名詞或代詞之後:
The noise that he made woke everybody up.
他弄出的響聲把大家都吵醒了。
She was annoyed by something that I had said.
她為我說的某句話而不高興。
The finite clauses are the ones that have subjects and finite verbs as predicatesl
The non-finite clauses are the ones that leave subjects unsaid and verbs in non-finite forms.