I was teaching relative clauses with my intermediate group recently when a question occured to me that I couldn't answer. I was very glad that no one else thought to ask it!
In the sentence "My friend comes from Bristol, which is thirty miles away"
or "He lives in Glasgow, which is the biggest city in Scotland" it would seem reasonable to be able to replace 'which' with 'where' particularly as I had just the previous lesson taught that 'where' can be used to introduce a relative clause relating to a place in sentences like "My brother lives in Bristol, where I was born"
But we don't say "My friend comes from Bristol, where is 30 miles away"
Any ideas how I might explain this, if someone were to ask?
where as relative pronoun
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jon phillipson
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Michael Swan's book Practical Grammar Usage does a nice job of explaining this.
Who, which, and that can be subjects of verbs in such relative clauses.
Who, whom, which, and that can be object of verbs.
Where can't. It introduces a relative clause, but is neither subject nor object of the verb. Think of it (to use Swan's words) in the same way as "preposition + which".
Do you know a shop where I can find sandals?
Do you know a shop at which I can find sandals?
If students don't get it, just tell them to remember the above rules as rules. Nothing more.
Who, which, and that can be subjects of verbs in such relative clauses.
Who, whom, which, and that can be object of verbs.
Where can't. It introduces a relative clause, but is neither subject nor object of the verb. Think of it (to use Swan's words) in the same way as "preposition + which".
Do you know a shop where I can find sandals?
Do you know a shop at which I can find sandals?
If students don't get it, just tell them to remember the above rules as rules. Nothing more.
where as relative pronoun
Hello!
The following explanation may be helpful.
We can consider the distinction between the following two sentences;
(1) My friend comes from Bristol, which is thirty miles away.
(2) My brother lives in Bristol, where I was born.
In nonrestrictive relative clauses such as the above sentences,
the relative pronoun can be subject, object, complement, or adverbial.
Consider the first sentence. The relative pronoun(which) is a subject
in the relative clause and can be replaced by and it:
(1a) My friend comes from Bristol, and it is thirty miles away.
In the second sentence, however, where functions as an adverbial in the second clause.
So it can be replaced by and there :
(2a) My brother lives in Bristol, and there I was born.
We can also paraphrase (2a) as follows;
(2c) My brother lives in Bristol, in which (city) I was born.
The preposition + pronoun can be replaced by spacial adverb.
So we can replace in which with where as in (2):
(2) My brother lives in Bristol, where I was born.
The following explanation may be helpful.
We can consider the distinction between the following two sentences;
(1) My friend comes from Bristol, which is thirty miles away.
(2) My brother lives in Bristol, where I was born.
In nonrestrictive relative clauses such as the above sentences,
the relative pronoun can be subject, object, complement, or adverbial.
Consider the first sentence. The relative pronoun(which) is a subject
in the relative clause and can be replaced by and it:
(1a) My friend comes from Bristol, and it is thirty miles away.
In the second sentence, however, where functions as an adverbial in the second clause.
So it can be replaced by and there :
(2a) My brother lives in Bristol, and there I was born.
We can also paraphrase (2a) as follows;
(2c) My brother lives in Bristol, in which (city) I was born.
The preposition + pronoun can be replaced by spacial adverb.
So we can replace in which with where as in (2):
(2) My brother lives in Bristol, where I was born.