RELATIVE PRONOUNS
[Sidenote: _Function of the relative pronoun_.]
104. Relative pronouns differ from both personal and interrogative
pronouns in referring to an antecedent, and also in having a
conjunctive use. The advantage in using them is to unite short
statements into longer sentences, and so to make smoother discourse.
Thus we may say, "The last of all the Bards was he. These bards sang
of Border chivalry." Or, it may be shortened into,--
"The last of all the Bards was he,
_Who_ sung of Border chivalry."
In the latter sentence, _who_ evidently refers to _Bards_, which is
called the antecedent of the relative.
[Sidenote: _The antecedent._]
105. The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun, pronoun, or other
word or expression, for which the pronoun stands. It usually precedes
the pronoun.
Personal pronouns of the third person may have antecedents also, as
they take the place usually of a word already used; as,--
The priest hath _his_ fee who comes and shrives us.--LOWELL
In this, both _his_ and _who_ have the antecedent _priest_.
The pronoun _which_ may have its antecedent following, and the
antecedent may be a word or a group of words, as will be shown in the
remarks on _which_ below.
[Sidenote: _Two kinds._]
106. Relatives may be SIMPLE or INDEFINITE.
When the word _relative_ is used, a simple relative is meant.
Indefinite relatives, and the indefinite use of simple relatives, will
be discussed further on.
The SIMPLE RELATIVES are _who_, _which_, _that_, _what_.
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