定语从句由关系代词who、whom、whose、which、what、as和关系副词where、when、why等引导,其中关系代词who引导定语从句作句子的主语、宾语。
1.who引导的定语从句的先行词是表示人的名词或代词。例如:
(1)The student who is answering the question is John.正在回答问题的那个学生是约翰。
(2)Anybody who breaks the laws will be punished.任何违反法律的人都将受到惩罚。
2.who是主格,在定语从句中作主语,此时不能省略。例如:
(1)The person who was here yesterday is a musician.昨天来这儿的那个人是位音乐家。
在非正式英语中,who亦可作宾语,且可以省略。例如:
(2)The man(who)I saw just now is Mr Li.我刚才见到的那个人是李先生。
3.在定语从句中,who在人称、数上和其前面的先行词保持一致。如:
Do you know the boy who is standing over there?你认识站在那边的那个男孩吗?
4.若先行词中既有人又有物,关系代词用that而不用who。例如:
He watched the children and boxes that filled the car.他看见了塞满汽车的孩子和箱子。
5.若先行词前面有形容词最高级、序数词修饰,关系代词用that而不用who。例如:
(1)Yao Ming is the best basketball player that I know.姚明是我知道的最好的篮球运动员。
(2)Tom is the first boy that left the room.汤姆是第一个离开这个房间的男孩。