Definitive subordinate clause- this is a subordinate part of a complex sentence, which refers to one member of the main sentence, expressed by a noun or a pronoun with a subject meaning (sometimes to the phrase "noun + demonstrative word"). For example: Road, which went into the distance, was very beautiful and I took with me those books, which were so necessary for me.
- Subordinate clauses explain main member sentences, revealing its features or clarifying the meaning of demonstrative pronouns. Determinative relations arise between the main and subordinate parts.
- The attributive clause usually answers the question Which? and joins the noun in the main clause using allied words which, which, whose, what, where, where, when etc. For example: K artina ( which), which I saw in the back room, stunned me with its splendor[noun, ( which– union. word)].
- Attributive clauses always come after the noun they refer to. Union word which can be found not only at the beginning, but also in the middle of the subordinate clause: Halfway into the opening open window the trapezoid was pushed in sunlight, top corner which touched the edge of the mirror cabinet.(D. Rubina) The subordinate clause can break the main part, being in the middle of it: The photograph that my father left me was always with me.
- The word being defined in the main part may have demonstrative words That, that one etc., for example: In the country where I live, there is never snow. This indicator word may be omitted; it is not required.
- Conjunctive words agree in gender and number with the qualifying noun of the main sentence, and their case depends on the syntactic role in the subordinate clause (usually acting as a subject or an object). For example:
The bitter frost does not joke with people in the taiga, which they go into the taiga without gloves or a hat; (the conjunctive word of which is the subject).
I asked you to give me a book, which Yesterday they brought it from the library;(union word which is an addition).
He and San Marco were answered by a steady hum, in the background whom the upper bells splashed(D. Rubina); (union word whom is an addition).
Conjunctive words in complex sentences with subordinate clauses
Conjunctive words in sentences with attributive clauses can be divided into basic (which, whose, which) And and non-core (where, what, when, where, where).
Non-main ones can be replaced by the main allied word which. Eg :
Making my way along the shore to my hut, I involuntarily peered in that direction, Where the day before the blind man was waiting for the night swimmer... (M.Yu. Lermontov).
Subordinate clauses with non-basic allied words also answers the question Which ? however, they have some of their own characteristics.
Subordinate clause with allied words where, where, from, when has the additional meaning of place or time. For example:
I stopped in the living room Where All the travelers stopped and meanwhile there was no one to tell them to fry the pheasant. (M.Yu. Lermontov)
I stopped in the living room Where(in which) all travelers stopped and Where(in which) meanwhile there is no one to order the pheasant to be roasted.
Here's the window again Where they don't sleep again... ( M. Tsvetaeva).
Streets, Where We spent our childhood and youth, will forever remain in our memory. (D. Rubina)
Onegin, do you remember that hour, When in the garden, in the alley, did fate bring us together?(A.S. Pushkin)
Union word What used only in the form of the nominative or accusative case (acts as a subject or direct object):
Sing me that song What before, the old mother sang to us...(S. Yesenin) (union word What as a supplement).
Unions as if, as if, as if, as if bring an additional shade of comparison :
She had this feeling as if Everyone turned their backs on her.
Pronominal correlative sentences
Subordinate clauses qualifying sentences related to demonstrative or attributive pronouns that, that, such, such, each, all, everyone, etc.., acting as the subject or nominal predicate in the main part, are called pronominal-definitive (correlative)).
The means of communication in them are relative pronouns who, what, which, which, which. For example: She laughed those sweet laugh which was one of her main charms.(noun + index word), ( which– conjunction word)
Unlike the actual attributive clauses, such clauses can appear not only after the word being defined, but also before it.
In this case, pronouns that act as demonstrative words form correlative pairs with allied words: that - who, so - that, that - that, that - which, such - that, such - what etc.
After his painting, everyone began to see the London fog like this, what the artist saw him.
The planes were coming So low, What one of them was shot down.
I took with me That, What was necessary.
This book is good those, What allows you to think.
The next year he died such harvest, What It would be a shame not to eat.
Members of a sentence, parsing a sentence, means of connecting sentences - all this is the syntax of the Russian language. The attributive clause is an example of one of the most difficult topics in studying Russian syntax.
Subordinate clause: definition
An integral part of a complex sentence is the subordinate clause. A subordinate clause is a part that is dependent on the main one. There was white snow in the fields when they went to the village. Here is the main offer There was snow on the fields. It asks a question to the dependent part: lay (when?) when they went to the village. The subordinate clause is a separate sentence because it has a predicative basis. However, being associated with the main member semantically and grammatically, it cannot exist independently. This is what makes the main part different complex sentence from subordinate clause. Thus, a subordinate clause is part of a complex sentence, dependent on the main part.
Subordinate clause: types
There are four types of subordinate clauses. The type of dependent part is determined by the question asked from the main clause.
| Name | Meaning | Example |
| Definitive | One word in the main sentence asks a question Which? | At that time he led the ensemble where Ilyin played. (ensemble (which?) where Ilyin played) |
| Explanatory | From one word in the main sentence the question of the indirect case is asked: what? what? how? about what? whom? to whom? by whom? about whom? | Imagine how happy she will be! (can you imagine (what?) how happy she will be) |
| Circumstantial | From one word in the main sentence the question of circumstance is asked: Where? When? where? How? For what? and others | He did what cowards do. (acted (how?) as cowards act) |
| Connection | Any question is asked from the entire main sentence. | There was a strong wind, which is why the flights were cancelled. (flights were canceled (why?) because there was a strong wind) |
Correctly determining the type of subordinate clause is the task facing the student.
Subordinate clause
Determinatives, examples of which are given in the table, consist of two or more parts, where the main part is characterized by a subordinate clause. The attributive clause refers to one word from the main clause. It is either a noun or a pronoun.
A attributive clause is an example of the formation of attributive relations between the main and dependent parts. One word from the main part agrees with the whole subordinate clause. For example, Victor looked at the sea, in the vastness of which a ship appeared. (The sea (which one?), in the vastness of which a ship appeared).
Subordinate clause: features
There are some features in the Examples from the table that will help you understand.
| Peculiarities | Examples |
| A subordinate clause is attached to the main clause, usually with a conjunctive word ( whose, which, what, where, which and others). | He was shocked by the picture (what?) that hung in the living room. The city (which one?) where magnolias grow, he remembered forever. |
| In the main part of the dictionary there may be demonstrative pronouns associated with allied words that, that, such and others. | In the city (which one?) where we were vacationing, there are many historical monuments. The apple orchard gave off such an aroma (what?) that only happens on warm May days. |
| The attributive clauses must follow immediately after the word being defined. | The photograph (which one?) that is in his notebook was given to him by Olga. Everyone remembered the day (what?) when they met. |
| Subordinate clause (examples of sentences with a conjunction word which) can be separated from the main word by other parts of sentences. | The room within which the gallery was located was well lit. In the evenings in the resort town you could hear the sound of the sea, with seagulls screaming in the background. |
Correlative clauses
Complex sentences with a subordinate clause have one more feature. If in the main part of the dictionary the subject or the nominal part of a compound nominal predicate is expressed by a determinative or demonstrative pronoun, on which the subordinate attributive part depends, then such a part is called correlative (pronoun-definitive). That is, sentences in which there is a relationship between a pronoun in the main part and in the dependent part are sentences where there are pronominal-defining clauses.
Examples: They only told him what happenednecessary(ratio that+what). The woman swore so loudly that the whole square could hear(the ratio so + that). The answer was the same as the question itself(ratio such + as). The captain's voice was so loud and stern that the entire unit immediately heard and formed(the ratio such + that). Distinctive feature Pronominal clauses are that they can precede the main clause: Anyone who has not been to Lake Baikal has not seen the true beauty of nature.
Subordinate clause: examples from fiction
There are many options for complex sentences with a subordinate clause.
Writers actively use them in their works. For example, I.A Bunin: The northern provincial town (which one?), where my family remained,... was far from me. At early dawn (what?), when the roosters are still crowing and the huts are smoking black, you might open the window...
A.S. Pushkin: In one minute the road skidded, the surroundings disappeared into the darkness (what?)..., through which white flakes of snow flew... Berestov answered with the same zeal (what?) with which a chained bear bows to his masters on the orders of his leader.
T. Dreiser: We can only console ourselves with the thought (what?) that human evolution will never stop... The feelings (what?) that an outcast experiences came flooded into her.
The subordinate attributive clause (examples from the literature illustrate this) introduces an additional shade of meaning to the main word, having a broad descriptive ability, allowing the author of the work to colorfully and reliably describe this or that object.
Impaired construction of sentences with attributive clauses
In the exam paper on the Russian language there are tasks where the attributive clause is used incorrectly. An example of a similar task: H An investor came to the city who was responsible for financing the project. In this sentence, due to the separation of the subordinate part from the main part, a semantic shift occurred.
It is necessary to see the mistake and use the attributive clause correctly. Example: The official who was responsible for financing the project came to the city. An error has been corrected in the proposal. In the speech of native speakers and in creative works Students also encounter other errors when using sentences with attributive clauses. Examples and characteristics of errors are given in the table.
| Example | Characteristics of errors | Corrected version |
| She was helped out by someone she had helped in the past. | Unreasonable omission of the demonstrative pronoun | She was rescued by someone she had helped in the past. |
| Narwhal is a unique mammal that lives in the Kara Sea. | Incorrect agreement of the allied word with the main word | Narwhal is a unique animal that lives in the Kara Sea. |
| People opened their mouths in surprise, amazed at the action taking place. | Logical and semantic connections are not observed | People who were amazed by the action taking place opened their mouths in surprise. |
Determinative clause and participle phrase
Sentences containing a participial clause are semantically similar to a complex sentence containing a subordinate clause. Examples: The oak planted by my great-grandfather turned into a huge tree. - The oak tree that my great-grandfather planted turned into a huge tree. Two similar sentences have different shades of meaning. Artistic style is preferred participial phrase, which is more descriptive and expressive in nature. In colloquial speech, the attributive clause is used more often than the participial phrase.
Some difficulty in learning the Russian language is created by a complex sentence with a subordinate clause. This article will be devoted to consideration of issues related to this section.
Complex sentence with attributive clause
A complex sentence is a linguistic construction in which there is more than one grammatical basis - a subject and a predicate. Moreover, a complex sentence with a subordinate clause is distinguished by the presence of a main part and a dependent part. The subordinate clause denotes the attribute of the object named in the main clause and answers the questions “which, which”.
Complex sentences are often found in speech. Examples can be given as follows.
The dog ran through a meadow (which one?), which was full of flowers.
Tatyana was reading a book from Nikolai’s library (which one?), which was already the twentieth.
Why are complex sentences needed?
Some people believe that it is easy to express all their thoughts in short phrases, “without any fuss.” They argue that a complex sentence with a subordinate clause should be replaced by two monobasic simple ones.
In some cases they are right. Especially when it comes to “multi-story” constructions with several subordination, participial and participial phrases. Such constructions are difficult to read, and to understand the meaning of what is being said is even more difficult. But what can happen if you constantly replace all complex sentences with several simple ones? We will try to transform the examples given above into simplified versions.
The dog ran across the meadow. The meadow was full of flowers.
Tatyana was reading a book from Nikolai's library. She was already the twentieth in a row.
The resulting sentences were quite understandable and easy to read. We just needed to replace the connecting words with nouns or pronouns. However, in the first case, there is repetition of the word in neighboring sentences, which is undesirable. And by ear, this option is more reminiscent of material from a primer for children learning to read, and not of beautiful Russian speech.
Analysis of a complex sentence
To correctly place punctuation marks in complex grammatical constructions, the ability to find grammatical bases in their parts is required. For example, let's look at a sentence.
The bird sat on the branch of a tree that was bent over under the weight of snow.
Main part - a bird sat on a tree branch, Where bird- subject, and villages- predicate. Subordinating clause here it is: "TOwhich was hunched over under the weight of snow". Conjunctive word " which" can easily be replaced with the word " tree" Then you get a complete simple sentence: “ The tree is bent over under the weight of snow", where the grammatical basis is " the tree is hunched over" Therefore, when parsing a subordinate clause, the subject is indicated “ which" - this is the main word here.
The diagram of a complex sentence will help you understand more accurately. The rectangle denotes the main part, the circle the subordinate part. You should also indicate in the diagram the connecting connective word and place punctuation marks.
Connection in a complex sentence with an attributive clause
If the author uses this construction in speech, he connects the main part with the secondary part using allied words “which”, “whose”, “which”, “when”, “who”, “what”, “from where”, “whither”, “where”. Parts of a complex sentence are separated by a comma. Moreover, the words " whose, which, which" are basic, and all the rest from the list are non-basic, indicating the attribute of an object indirectly. But they (non-basic connecting allied words) can always be replaced by the main " which».
I adore the house in the village where I spent my childhood.
In this construction the conjunction word “ Where" is easily replaced by the word " in which" You can put a question to the subordinate clause “ I adore the house in the village (which one?) where I spent my childhood.”
Often there are demonstrative words in the main part “that” (“that”, “that”, “those”), “such”, “each”, “every”, “any”.
I respect those people who defended their Fatherland with their breasts.
Where and when to place a comma in complex sentences
- In speech constructions where there are subordinate modifiers, a comma is placed between the main part and the dependent part.
Here is the cinema where they kissed in the last row.
Black clouds gathered over the forest in which we were picking mushrooms.
- Sometimes the presence of intensifying-restrictive words (conjunctions or their combinations, particles, introductory words) is revealed in the subordinate clause. These are especially, in particular, in particular, even, including, and also, namely, but (but) only, just, only, exclusively, only and others. They are classified as a subordinate clause, and the comma is placed in such a way as not to separate the intensifying-restrictive words from the subordinate clause itself.
It’s good to relax in a village, especially next to which there is a river flowing.
- If we have complex sentences with several subordinate clauses, unrelated connecting or disjunctive conjunctions and (yes), or, either, then a comma separates all simple sentences.
The stream ran past a beautiful fairy-tale lawn, which was full of flowers, over which bright butterflies fluttered.
When is a comma not used in complex sentences?
- There are complex sentences with several subordinate clauses, which are homogeneous and interconnected by single connecting or disjunctive conjunctions and (yes), or, or.
I like to watch kids playing in the sandbox or enthusiastically looking at pictures in a book.
- You should not separate a subordinate clause consisting of one word with commas.
I would take a book, but I don’t know which one.
- Do not separate a subordinate clause with a comma if there is a negative particle before the subordinating conjunctive word " Not".
I had to see not what kind of work it was, but why and by whom it was written.
Position of the connecting word in a complex sentence
Difficulty in parsing may arise when the connecting conjunctive word is not at the beginning of the subordinate clause, but in the middle or even at the end.
Christmas morning was approaching cautiously, which all the kids were looking forward to.
All listeners were captivated by that singer, for whom they did not spare applause.
However, the scheme of a complex sentence, in which the connecting conjunctive word is not at the beginning of the subordinate clause, is constructed in such a way as if it were located immediately after the comma.
Stylistic errors in complex sentences with attributive clauses
Quite often, people make outright blunders in their speech. What complex sentence will have a distorted meaning?
That is where there is an incorrect location of the attributive clause relative to the word from the main part, the attribute of which is indicated. If the definition is placed far from it, the entire structure may take on a distorted meaning.
A phrase can become completely absurd if, between the defined word and the subordinate attributive, sentence members that depend on other words are inserted. For example:
Tatyana loved to eat the jam with a spoon that her grandmother made.
From the sentence we can conclude that the grandmother was an expert in making spoons. And this is not true at all! Grandma made jam and never made kitchen utensils. Therefore, the correct option would be:
Tatyana loved to eat the jam that her grandmother made with a spoon.
But in those cases when between the subordinate and the defined word there are members of the sentence that depend specifically on it, then the construction has a right to exist.
Tatyana loved to eat jam with a spoon painted with a bright ornament, which her grandfather gave her.
Here the phrase “painted with bright ornaments” is dependent on “spoon”, so there was no mistake.
Yes, the Russian language is diverse and difficult! Complex sentences occupy not the last place here. However, the ability to use them correctly in speech and accurately place punctuation marks can achieve a beautiful and vivid description.
They indicate the attribute of the subject named in the main clause; answer the question Which ?
refer to one word in the main sentence - a noun (sometimes to the phrase “noun + demonstrative word”); are joined by conjunctive words: who, what, whose, which, which, where, where, from, when. At the same time, demonstrative words are often found in the main sentence: that (that, that, those), such, everyone, everyone, any and etc.
Like definitions in a simple sentence, attributive clauses express a characteristic of an object, but, unlike most definitions, they often characterize the object not directly, but indirectly - through a situation that is somehow connected with the object.
For example: Forest , which we entered , was extremely old.(I. Turgenev); I visited that one again corner of the earth, where I spent two unnoticed years as an exile.
(A. Pushkin).
Subordinate clauses are added using allied words - relative pronouns which, which, whose, what and pronominal adverbs where, where, from, when. In the subordinate clause they replace the noun from the main clause.
For example: I ordered to go to a stranger item , which (= object) He immediately began to move towards us.
(A.S. Pushkin) - union word which is subject.
I love of people , With which(= with people) easy to communicate. (With which is an addition).
Conjunctive words in complex sentences with attributive clauses can be divided into basic (which, which, whose) And non-core (what, where, where, where, when).
Non-main ones can always be replaced by the main allied word which, and the possibility of such a replacement is a clear sign of attributive clauses.
For example: Village , Where(wherein) I missed you Evgeny, it was a lovely corner ... (A. Pushkin) - [noun, ( Where),].
I remembered today dog , What (which) was a friend of my youth.
(S. Yesenin) – [noun] ( What).
Subordinate clause usually appears immediately after the noun it modifies, but may be separated from it by one or two members of the main clause.
For example: They were just peasants kids from a neighboring village, who guarded the herd. (I. Turgenev.)
You cannot place a noun and the subordinate clause associated with it far from each other, you cannot separate them with members of a sentence that do not depend on this noun.
You can't say: We ran to the river to swim every day after work, which was very close to our house .
Correct option: Every day in the evening after work we ran to swim river , which was very close to our house.
The subordinate clause can break the main part, being in the middle of it.
For example: Mill bridge , from which I have caught minnows more than once , was already visible.
(V. Kaverin.)
Small house , where I live in Meshchera , deserves description.(K. Paustovsky.)
The word being defined in the main part may have demonstrative words that one, For example:
IN that room , where I live , there is almost never sun.
There are subordinate attributive clauses that relate specifically to demonstrative or attributive pronouns that, that, such, such, each, all, every etc., which cannot be omitted. Such subordinate clauses are called pronominal attributives . The means of communication in them are relative pronouns who, what, which, which, which. They are attached to the main sentence using allied words (main allied words - Who And What).
For example: Who lives without sadness and anger , That does not love his fatherland.(N. A. Nekrasov) - means of communication - union word Who, acting as the subject.
He is not such , what we wanted him to be. - means of communication - allied word what, which is the definition.
All seems good What it was before.(L.N. Tolstoy) - means of communication - allied words What, which is the subject.
Compare: That man , who came yesterday , didn't show up today- subordinate clause. [indicative word + noun, ( which), ].
That, who came yesterday , didn't show up today.- subordinate pronominal attributive. [pronoun, ( Who), ].
Unlike the actual attributive clauses, which always appear after the noun to which they refer, pronominal attributive clauses can also appear before the word being defined.
For example: Who lived and thought , That can't help but despise people in his soul...(A. Pushkin) - ( Who), [pronoun].
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