{"id":2648,"date":"2014-10-27T11:40:49","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T11:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=2648"},"modified":"2014-11-11T09:16:52","modified_gmt":"2014-11-11T09:16:52","slug":"what-are-contact-clauses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Contact Clauses?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Michael<\/a>

Michael Davis-Burchat\/Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Although they are a fairly common feature of spoken and written English, contact clauses, a relative clause sub-type, may be difficult to grasp for students learning English.<\/em><\/p>\n

Relative Clauses<\/h3>\n

Before investigating contact clauses, let\u2019s first define the relative clause. A\u00a0relative clause\u00a0is a subordinate clause that consists of a subject and a verb, and it functions as an adjective (e.g. \u201cThe dog that barked\u201d or \u201cThe boy who lived\u201d).<\/p>\n

They use relative pronouns such as \u201cthat,\u201d \u201cwhich,\u201d \u201cwho,\u201d or \u201cwhom,\u201d and relative adverbs such as \u201cwhere\u201d and \u201cwhen\u201d to relate two ideas. Relative clauses are helpful in clarifying sentences, but they cannot stand alone.<\/p>\n

So What\u2019s a Contact Clause Anyway?<\/h3>\n

Native speakers take them for granted, but they can be a baffling language feature to people learning English. A contact clause is a relative clause that omits the relative pronoun (i.e that, which, whom, who, etc.) and must be adjacent to the noun phrase.<\/p>\n

Linguist Otto Jespersen introduced the term in his book Essentials of English Grammar<\/a> (1933)<\/em>\u00a0 but the structure has existed in the English language for centuries, to the chagrin of some grammar purists. In fact, 18th century grammarians hotly debated its use, and Lindley Murray argued that English grammar should be modeled after Latin. Still, the contact clause persisted and remains common to this day.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that with the usual construction, the contact clause is the object of the sentence, not the subject. For example, you would normally say \u201cThe blog I read,\u201d so that \u201cI read\u201d is the contact clause.<\/p>\n

However, generally speaking, you would not say, \u201cThere\u2019s a girl told me to read the blog.\u201d The second example omits the \u201cwho\u201d and makes \u201ctold me\u201d the contact clause. The \u201ctold me\u201d also serves as the subject because it performs the action. Though irregular, this type of contact clause is found in various forms of vernacular English.<\/p>\n

In Standard English, we would typically use the first construction, with a relative pronoun only being omitted when the contact clause serves as the object of the sentence.<\/p>\n

More Examples Please<\/h3>\n

This is what a sentence would look like with the relative pronoun \u201cthat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me that English was difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you omit the relative pronoun, \u201cEnglish was difficult\u201d becomes a contact clause.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me English was difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of contact clauses used in literature:<\/p>\n

\"Unfortunately we had to sack Lydia after that incident\u00a0you know about.\u201d
\n(Cliff Green,\u00a0Rainbow Academy<\/em>. Trafford, 2009)<\/p>\n

In this example, the relative pronoun \u201cthat\u201d is omitted after \u201cincident\u201d; including it would make the sentence too clunky.<\/p>\n

\"I was jealous; therefore I loved. And the woman\u00a0I loved\u00a0was Maud Brewster.\"
\n(Jack London,\u00a0The Sea-Wolf.<\/em> 1904)<\/p>\n

Here, either \u201cthat\u201d or \u201cwho\u201d is omitted after \u201cwoman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'Well,' he said, 'the reason\u00a0I ask\u00a0is that I'm afraid I can't recall ever doing business with this man who implies things. No, I don't remember him at all.\"
\n(Philip Singerman,\u00a0Proof Positive<\/em>. Forge Books, 2001)<\/p>\n

In this case, \u201cthat\u201d is omitted\u201d after \u201creason.\u201d<\/p>\n

As illustrated above, contact clauses were developed in part because they simply look better on the page and sound better out loud. In each of these examples, relative pronouns could be used but are left out mainly for stylistic reasons.<\/p>\n

Removing unnecessary words (within grammatical rules!) allows us to communicate more succinctly and effectively. Consequently, grammar tends to adapt to regular usage throughout the years, changing with culture, society, and literature.<\/p>\n

Do Contact Clauses Exist Elsewhere?<\/h3>\n

Though most languages have relative pronoun systems of varying complexities, contact clauses are a uniquely English phenomenon. However, they can be found in English-based languages such as Hawaiian Creole English.<\/p>\n

Learning English is no easy feat. With its complex and irregular grammar, it helps to have a network of people to refer to for guidance. If you want to improve your English with supportive, personalized instruction, Contact Us<\/a> to learn more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although they are a fairly common feature of spoken and written English, contact clauses, a relative clause sub-type, may be difficult to grasp for students learning English. Relative Clauses Before investigating contact clauses, let\u2019s first define the relative clause. A\u00a0relative clause\u00a0is a subordinate clause that consists of a subject and a verb, and it functions(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,27],"tags":[380,378,59,66,304],"class_list":["post-2648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language-learning","category-humour-offbeat","tag-clause","tag-contact-clause","tag-english","tag-language","tag-learning"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Are Contact Clauses?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Contact clauses, a relative clause sub-type, may be difficult to grasp for students learning English.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Are Contact Clauses?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contact clauses, a relative clause sub-type, may be difficult to grasp for students learning English.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-27T11:40:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-11T09:16:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Chalkboard1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"335\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Clare Hopping\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Clare Hopping\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/\",\"name\":\"What Are Contact Clauses?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Chalkboard1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-27T11:40:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-11T09:16:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08732961080efe9c7b4dbf9e8e6a4f15\"},\"description\":\"Contact clauses, a relative clause sub-type, may be difficult to grasp for students learning English.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Chalkboard1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Chalkboard1.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":335,\"caption\":\"Michael Davis-Burchat\/Flickr\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Are Contact Clauses?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08732961080efe9c7b4dbf9e8e6a4f15\",\"name\":\"Clare Hopping\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6b5848dce4b990deef46d0338a04dea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6b5848dce4b990deef46d0338a04dea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Clare Hopping\"},\"description\":\"Clare has been writing for ten years and although she hasn't quite mastered writing in another language, she can speak conversational Spanish and a little Portuguese.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/landt.co\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/clare\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Are Contact Clauses?","description":"Contact clauses, a relative clause sub-type, may be difficult to grasp for students learning English.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Are Contact Clauses?","og_description":"Contact clauses, a relative clause sub-type, may be difficult to grasp for students learning English.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2014-10-27T11:40:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-11-11T09:16:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":335,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Chalkboard1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Clare Hopping","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Clare Hopping","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/","name":"What Are Contact Clauses?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Chalkboard1.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-27T11:40:49+00:00","dateModified":"2014-11-11T09:16:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08732961080efe9c7b4dbf9e8e6a4f15"},"description":"Contact clauses, a relative clause sub-type, may be difficult to grasp for students learning English.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Chalkboard1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Chalkboard1.jpg","width":500,"height":335,"caption":"Michael Davis-Burchat\/Flickr"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-are-contact-clauses\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Are Contact Clauses?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/08732961080efe9c7b4dbf9e8e6a4f15","name":"Clare Hopping","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6b5848dce4b990deef46d0338a04dea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6b5848dce4b990deef46d0338a04dea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Clare Hopping"},"description":"Clare has been writing for ten years and although she hasn't quite mastered writing in another language, she can speak conversational Spanish and a little Portuguese.","sameAs":["http:\/\/landt.co"],"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/clare\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2648"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2700,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648\/revisions\/2700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}