Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Beckingham, and I'm so glad you've decided to join me today for a lesson about the common rules in relative complex sentences.

I think you're going to find this knowledge really helpful for your writing this year, and I'll be with you all the way through the lesson to help you with any of the tricky bits we might come across.

So I think we're gonna get a lot done today.

Let's make a start.

This lesson is called using the common rules in relative complex sentences.

And it comes from a unit called simple compound adverbial and relative complex sentences.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to use a pair of commas to interrupt a main clause with a relative clause in a relative complex sentence.

And we know that punctuating sentences accurately is really important to help our reader to understand the sentences we've written.

So let's make sure we do our very best work today.

Here are keywords for today's lesson, comma, relative complex sentence, relative clause, relative pronoun, and interrupt.

Well-done.

A comma is a punctuation mark that can be used to separate the relative clause from the main clause in a relative complex sentence.

A relative complex sentence is a sentence formed from a main clause, a relative clause.

A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause that starts with a relative pronoun.

And a relative pronoun is a word that starts a relative clause, like who or which.

If you interrupt something, you force it to stop or break.

Now let's look at our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start by looking at comments in relative complex sentences and learning the rules for using those comments.

Then we'll move on to writing some relative complex sentences.

Let's make a start.

We've learned two types of complex sentence where a type of subordinate clause is joined to a main clause.

One type is an adverbial complex sentence.

For instance, we clap loudly when it was over.

We can see the adverbial clause here.

We've got a main clause followed by the adverbial clause, a type of subordinate clause.

We could flip our sentence.

When it was over, we clapped loudly.

Now the arb clause has come first.

We've got an adverbial clause followed by a main clause.

Another type of complex sentence is the relative complex sentence.

For instance, the children, who are very impressed, clapped loudly.

Here we can see the relative clause interrupting the main clause in the sentence.

Again, this is a type of subordinate clause.

Here we've got the main clause interrupted by the subordinate clause.

Commas are used in adverbial complex sentences when the adverbial clause comes first to separate it from the main clause.

For instance, after we had finished maths, we got ready for spelling.

We've got a subordinating conjunction after, then we have our adverbial clause followed by a comma and followed by the main clause.

We can see that here.

As the sun rose above the distant hills, the villagers stirred in their beds.

We have our subordinating conjunction as starting the adverbial clause followed by the comma, followed by the main clause.

True or false, we heard a loud explosion while the experiment was running.

A comma needs to be added to this sentence.

Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

That's false.

Now see if you can explain why.

Pause the video and decide which option explains why this is false.

Well done.

It's B.

An adverbial complex sentence has a comma after the aerial clause, only if the adverbial clause is at the start of the sentence.

In this case, the adverbial clause, while the experiment was running, is at the end of the sentence, so it doesn't require a comma.

Now, a relative complex sentence contains a relative clause and a main clause.

Sam's dad, who is a nurse, works at our local hospital.

We've got the main clause.

Sam's dad works at our local hospital.

And we have the relative clause, who is a nurse.

It starts with a relative pronoun.

In this case who, because Sam's dad is a person.

The relative clause in a relative complex sentence can often interrupt the main clause like we saw in the last sentence.

We could have this main clause, this simple sentence, a vast iceberg loomed over us.

We could add in a relative of clause.

A vast iceberg, which was as white as snow, loomed over us.

We still have a main clause there, a vast iceberg loomed over us.

But the relative clause gives us extra relevant information about the noun or the noun phrase the main clause is about.

In this case, the vast iceberg.

So we've got the relative clause here, giving extra detail about the noun phrase, a vast iceberg.

Now for these sentences, can you find the relative clause and then find the noun or the noun phrase it tells us more about.

And remember, the relative clause must begin with a relative pronoun who or which.

Pause the video and find them both.

Well done, great effort.

In a, the relative clause is who is 79.

And it describes my grandma, the noun phrase.

In b, the relative clause is which lit up the night sky.

And that gives us more relevant extra information about the silver moon.

And in c, the relevant relative clause is who loves to cook.

And that gives us more relevant extra information about Aisha, the noun.

Notice how the relative clause always comes directly after the noun or the noun phrase.

It gives us that extra detail about.

Great work.

Now, when a relative clause interrupt a main clause in this way, we use a pair of commas to show where our relative clause begins and ends.

So here's a relative complex sentence.

My cousin, who lives and breathes football, got a season ticket for his birthday.

We can see we've got our main clause interrupted by the subordinate clause, the relative clause.

Here's that relative clause.

We can see there's a comma before it, then the relative pronoun.

Then we have that extra relevant information and then a comma afterwards.

And we can see that in our diagram as well.

We start the main clause, we have a comma, we have the relative clause, we have a comma, and we finish the main clause.

And obviously, there'll be a full stop at the end of the sentence.

So have a look at this sentence.

Jack's brother, who loves to read, won the school English prize.

Why are there two commas in this sentence? Is it to separate the main clause from an adverbial clause? Is it to show a list of nouns, or c, to show where the relative clause begins and ends? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

I'm sure you spotted that it is c.

It's to show where that relative clause begins and ends.

The relative clause is, who loves to read? It tells us more about the noun phrase.

Jack's brother.

Andy lives two doors down from me.

Laura adds the relative clause, who is my best friend to this sentence.

Which version of the sentence is correctly punctuated to show that relative clause? Pause the video and decide.

Well done, it is b.

The relative clause is who is my best friend? So we have to have a comma before it and after it in a relative complex sentence.

And notice how it comes directly after the noun Andy, which it gives us relevant extra information about.

Well done.

Now, the commas around the relative clause also help show where the main clause is in the sentence.

So if you look at this relative complex sentence, the house, which was over a century old, stood on a steep hill.

We can see there are commas around the relative clause.

That tells us that these two parts, the bits outside the commas must be the main clause.

The house stood on a steep hill.

If we remove that relative clause, the main clause should still make sense.

The sentence would read, the house stood on a steep hill.

So what is the main clause in each relative complex sentence here? Remember, the relative clause will be inside commas, the main clause in this case is interrupted by that relative clause.

So look for the part of the sentence which would still make sense if we removed that relative clause.

Pause the video and find the main clause in each sentence.

Well done.

In a, we would find Jun was always late.

In b, the music made us cover our ears.

And in c, her coat was very expensive.

In each case, we've had a main clause interrupted by that relative clause.

Great work.

So where should the commas be placed in a relative complex sentence if it's not punctuated for us already.

We need to think where's the relative pronoun and where does that relevant extra information about the noun or the noun phrase end.

Here's an unpunctuated relative complex sentence.

Jacob's friend who doesn't go to our school joined us at the park.

I'm going to start by looking for that relative pronoun who.

Then I'm going to think, well, what's the relevant extra information that's been added? And I think it's, who doesn't go to our school.

So I'm going to put the commas before that relative pronoun.

And when the relevant extra information ends after the word school.

Can you try for this example? Where should the commas be placed in this relative complex sentence? My next door neighbour, who has an amazing garden, lent us his lawnmower.

Pause the video and decide where you would place those commas.

Well done.

Hopefully you spotted the relative pronoun who there.

So the first column must come before that, who.

Then we can see the relevant extra information is this, who has an amazing garden.

So we've spotted the relative clauses, and we're going to put the commas on either side of that relative clause.

Here they are.

Really well done, if you placed those comments correctly.

Okay, let's look at our task for the first part of the lesson.

I've given you here some unpunctuated relative complex sentences.

And I want you to add in a pair of commas into each sentence to show where the relative clause is.

Remember to look for that relative pronoun, who or which, which starts off the relative clause.

And then think, where should this relative clause end? Where is the end of the relevant extra information? Pause the video and see if you can add a pair of commas into each sentence.

Have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

In number one, it should look like this.

We've got a comma after her teacher and after behaviour, because the relative clause is, who was impressed with our behaviour.

In number two, we have commas around the relative clause, which is next to the supermarket.

In number three, we have commas around the relative clause, who is a baker.

And in number four, there are commas around the relative clause, which needs four players.

Really well done if you managed to get those pairs of commas in the correct place around the relative clause.

You're doing a great job.

Okay, for the second part of our lesson, we are going to look at writing some relative complex sentences.

Let's get to work.

So when we think about writing relative complex sentences, we need to follow a few careful steps to make sure what we write makes sense and it's correctly punctuated.

So if we want to add a relative clause to an existing sentence, we need to first of all find the noun or the noun phrase we want to give extra relevant information about.

So in this simple sentence, her brother came over for dinner.

I could choose the noun phrase, her brother, to give extra relevant information about.

Then I need to decide what extra relevant information do I want to give about that noun or that noun phrase.

So what information do I want to say about her brother? I could say, who's 19, who lives near us, who works with my mom.

And then I add in that relevant extra information as a relative clause.

Her brother, who lives near us, came over for dinner.

So I've interrupted my main clause with that relative clause.

So can you find the noun and the noun phrase in each of these sentences, which could come before the relative clause? So which noun or noun phrase could we give that extra relevant information about? Pause the video and find that noun or noun phrase.

Well done.

In a, we could choose the weary soldier.

In b, a hungry badger and in c, my cousin's husband.

Those are all noun phrases.

Well done if you spotted them? Now, the extra information we added about the noun or the noun phrase must be relevant to it.

We know that relevant means closely connected.

It tells us important information that we need to know, and which links to what we're talking about.

The weary soldier collapsed onto the muddy ground is a simple sentence.

We could say about the weary soldier, who was exhausted after the long battle.

That would explain why he collapsed.

We could say who had fought for many days, that would explain the collapse.

So we could write a relative complex sentence that looks like this.

The weary soldier, who had fought for many days, collapsed onto the muddy ground.

That relative clause, who had fought for many days, is definitely relevant to the weary soldier collapsing onto the muddy ground.

So it makes sense to use that in a relative complex sentence.

So what extra relevant information could we add as a relative clause to these sentences? I want you to pause the video and think of as many relevant relative clauses as you can for a hungry badger and my cousin's husband.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, now, you might have come up with some very different ideas to mind, but here are some ideas I thought of.

I thought we could use a hungry badger, which was searching for worms, which had not eaten for days, or which had black and white stripes.

All of those are relevant to that noun phrase.

For my cousin's husband.

There are endless possibilities you could have chosen.

I went for who is Scottish? Who got me a guitar for Christmas? Or who loves playing tennis? All of those tell us more about my cousin's husband.

Well done for the ideas you came up with.

Now, once we've decided on the extra relevant information we want to use, we insert add in a relative clause using that pair of commas around the relative clause.

So we know it should look like our diagram here where we begin our main clause, we have a comma after that noun phrase, we have our relative subordinate clause followed by another comma, and then we finish off our main clause at the end.

And those two parts of the main clause are one main clause interrupted by the relative clause.

So here's my simple sentence, A hungry badger lumbered through the dense forest.

I'm adding in my relative clause which was searching for worms. And here it is with commas around it, a hungry badger, which was searching for worms, lumbered through the dense forest, with a comma before which and after worms to show where that relative clause began and ended.

Now your turn.

Which sentence here is correctly punctuated? They all say the same thing, but which one has the commas in the correct place for a relative complex sentence? Pause the video and have a try.

So the relative clause in this sentence must be who is Scottish.

That's the extra information about my cousin's husband.

In a, we've got a comma before it, but not after it.

So that's not right.

And b, we've got a comma after it, but not before it.

So that's not right.

In c, we have commas on either side of the relative clause who is Scottish? So this one is correctly punctuated relative complex sentence.

Really well done if you spotted that.

Now here's a really good way of checking whether your relative complex sentence is correctly punctuated.

If you remove the part of the sentence that's between the commas, what's left behind must be a main clause that makes sense.

So look at this sentence.

Between the commas I have who loves playing.

If I remove that, the sentence said, my cousin's husband, tennis is a hairdresser.

That does not make sense.

So I can't have put my comma in the correct place.

What about this one? I've got between the commas now, husband who loves playing tennis, if I remove that, I've got my cousins is a hairdresser.

Again, that doesn't make sense.

So my commas must have been in the wrong place.

In this one I have between the commas, who loves playing tennis.

If I remove that, I've got my cousin's husband is a hairdresser.

That makes sense, it's a main clause.

It's a simple sentence.

So that tells me that one had the commas in the correct position.

Now you try.

Which of these three sentences is correctly punctuated? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done, I bet you spotted that it's b.

We've got the relative clause.

You've got me a guitar for Christmas.

And if we remove that, that sentence would say, my cousin's husband is a hairdresser.

So that proves that we've punctuated that correctly with the commas around the relative clause leaving behind a main clause that make sense.

Well done.

So where could the relative clause be placed in this sentence? The shaggy grey wolf howled at the silver moon.

Pause the video and decide, would you put the relative clause at a, at b, or at c? Have a go.

Well done, I'm sure you spotted that.

We have the noun phrase here, the shaggy grey wolf.

So the relative clause would go after that at b.

But what could that relative clause be? Pause the video and decide what you think the relative clause should be in that sentence.

Well done.

You might have come with lots of ideas.

Here's my one, the shaggy grey wolf, which had pointed teeth, howled at the silver moon.

So I've described a bit more about what the shaggy grey wolf looked like in my relative clause, and I've got a comma before and after the relative clause.

Really well done if yours looks similar.

Now let's start thinking about our second task for this lesson.

We're going to do this step by step, starting with a bit of talking.

So I've got four sentences here.

These are simple sentences.

And for each sentence I want you to think, can you locate a noun or a noun phrase, you could give some extra relevant information about? And for that noun or noun phrase, decide whether the relative clause we wrote after it would start with who or which, remembering our rule, who for people and characters and which for places and things.

So just speaking out loud or thinking in your head, can you decide for each of those sentences, what's the noun and noun phrase? We could write a relative clause after.

And would that relative clause start with who or which? Pause the video and have a chat or a think.

well done? Let's look at those noun phrases we could write the relative clause after.

In number one, it would be my baby sister.

In number two, our school.

Number three, Sophia's brother, and number four, my neighbor's cat.

And we need to use these's relative pronouns.

My baby sister is a person, so we'd use who.

Our school is a place, so we'd use witch.

Sophia's brother is a person, so that's who.

And my neighbor's cat is an animal, which is a type of thing.

So we would say which.

Really well done if you spotted those.

So now for each of those sentences and using the relative pronouns we've come up with, can you rewrite the sentence with a relative clause in that position after the noun phrase, giving some relevant extra information.

And make sure, use a pair of commas around the relative clause to separate it from the main clause.

So pause the video and have a go at writing each of these sentences as a relative complex sentence.

Good luck.

Okay, before we share our answers, let's just check our sentences together.

Does your relative clause give some extra relevant information about the noun phrase we identified? Does the relative clause have a pair of commas around it? And if you remove that relative clause, would the sentence still make sense? Pause the video again and see if you can just check your sentences against those criteria.

Have a go.

Okay, let's look at some example sentences you could have written.

Now, yours will look different to mine, but let's see some ideas.

You could have written.

My baby sister, who is only 10 months old, loves her toy elephant very much.

Our school, which is known for its amazing sports teams, is the best in the area.

Sophia's brother, who is much bigger than her, is on my rugby team.

My neighbor's cat, which is a scrawny little tabby, left a mouse on our front step.

Really well done if you've managed to get some sentences that look similar to this with a relative clause in the middle.

After that noun phrase we identified, starting with the relative pronoun we chose, and with a pair of commas around your relative clause.

Really well done, great effort.

Well done today.

You've worked really hard in this lesson.

Let's summarise what we've learned.

We've learned that we can use a relative clause to add extra relevant information about a noun or a noun phrase in a main clause.

We've learned that often a relative clause interrupts a main clause in a relative complex sentence.

And when this happens, we use a pair of commas to show whether relative clause begins and ends.

Thank you so much for joining me this lesson and for all your hard work.

I hope to see you again soon.