Focus is a grammatical category that conveys which part of the sentence contributes new, non-derivable, or contrastive information. One way to focus on different parts of a sentence is to rearrange the elements.
A defining relative clause with “when” is a type of relative clause that defines a noun relating to time. It is used to provide essential information about the noun, such as when the event happened or when the thing existed.
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 46 in the category of CLAUSES/FOCUS is defined as:
defining relative clauses with ‘when’ to define nouns relating to time.
Here are some PELIC student examples using this focus structure:
I remember the day when we moved to that house.
Arabic, Male, Level 4, Grammar Class.
I still remember the night when one of my roommates was sent to the hospital because of appendicitis.
Chinese, Female, Level 5, Writing Class.
A search in iWeb for:
the _NNT when * *
1 THE TIME WHEN I WAS 1221 (most of these are: “all the time when I was a...”)
2 THE TIME WHEN HE WAS 606
3 THE TIME WHEN IT WAS 546
4 THE DAYS WHEN IT WAS 524
5 THE DAYS WHEN I WAS 510
6 THE DAY WHEN I WAS 509
7 THE DAYS WHEN YOU COULD 488
The days when you could just act out of your noble instincts are over.
8 THE TIME WHEN YOU ARE 416
9 THE TIME WHEN THEY WERE 372
10 THE DAYS WHEN YOU HAD 369
11 THE TIME WHEN I ‘M 355
12 THE TIME WHEN THEY ARE 326
13 THE DAY WHEN I CAN 317
14 THE TIME WHEN IT IS 307
15 THE DAY WHEN THE SUN 299
16 THE TIME WHEN WE WERE 278
17 THE TIME WHEN YOU CAN 278
18 THE DAY WHEN YOU ARE 253
19 THE TIME WHEN YOU ‘RE 240
20 THE DAYS WHEN HE WAS 234
21 THE TIME WHEN I AM 225
22 THE DAYS WHEN THEY WERE 219
23 THE DAY WHEN WE CAN 219
24 THE MORNING WHEN YOU WAKE 219
25 THE DAY WHEN THEY ARE 213
26 THE TIME WHEN THE FIRST 204
27 THE TIME WHEN YOU WERE 192
28 THE TIME WHEN YOU HAVE 190
29 THE DAYS WHEN WE WERE 188
30 THE DAY WHEN IT WAS 187
31 THE DAY WHEN YOU CAN 186
32 THE MORNING WHEN I WAKE 183
33 THE DAY WHEN IT IS 182
34 THE DAY WHEN YOU ‘RE 177
35 THE TIME WHEN YOU NEED 173
36 THE DAYS WHEN THERE WERE 172
37 THE DAY WHEN HE WAS 170
38 THE DAY WHEN THEY WERE 160
39 THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS 159
40 THE TIME WHEN SHE WAS 155
41 THE TIME WHEN WE ARE 151
42 THE YEAR WHEN YOU CAN 149
43 THE TIME WHEN IT COMES 141
44 THE DAYS WHEN I HAD 139
45 THE SUMMER WHEN I WAS 139
46 THE DAYS WHEN I COULD 137
47 THE DAY WHEN I ‘M 133
48 THE TIME WHEN YOU WILL 133
49 THE TIMES WHEN IT COMES 133
50 THE DAYS WHEN WE HAD 132
51 THE DAY WHEN WE WERE 130
52 THE DAY WHEN I AM 128
53 THE DAY WHEN WE WILL 126
54 THE TIMES WHEN YOU ARE 126
55 THE TIME WHEN YOU WANT 123
56 THE DAYS WHEN YOU WERE 122
57 THE SUMMER WHEN IT ‘S 120
58 THE TIME WHEN THE SUN 120
59 THE DAY WHEN WE ARE 119
60 THE DAY WHEN THEY CAN 117
61 THE TIME WHEN THERE WAS 116
62 THE DAY WHEN YOU HAVE 115
63 THE TIME WHEN YOU SHOULD 115
64 THE DAY WHEN I HAVE 113
65 THE TIMES WHEN I WAS 113
66 THE WINTER WHEN IT ‘S 113
67 THE TIME WHEN I HAVE 110
68 THE DAYS WHEN THE ONLY 109
69 THE MORNING WHEN I GET 108
70 THE DAY WHEN IT COMES 107
71 THE TIME WHEN I FIRST 107
72 THE TIME WHEN THEY WILL 107
73 THE MORNING WHEN THE SUN 105
74 THE DAYS WHEN I USED 104
75 THE TIME WHEN WE CAN 103
76 THE WINTER WHEN IT IS 103
77 THE TIMES WHEN YOU NEED 102
78 THE DAYS WHEN YOU ARE 101
79 THE DAYS WHEN I WOULD 100
80 THE DAY WHEN THEY WILL 100
81 THE DAY WHEN IT ‘S 100
82 THE TIME WHEN I HAD 100
83 THE DAYS WHEN YOU HAVE 98
84 THE DAY WHEN I WOULD 97
85 THE YEARS WHEN IT COMES 96
86 THE DAY WHEN THERE IS 95
87 THE DAY WHEN I COULD 95
88 THE TIME WHEN ALL THE 95
89 THE TIME WHEN YOU GET 95
90 THE SUMMER WHEN IT IS 94
91 THE DAY WHEN I HAD 92
92 THE DAY WHEN YOU WILL 91
93 THE MORNING WHEN IT IS 91
94 THE DAYS WHEN YOU NEED 91
95 THE EVENING WHEN THE SUN 90
96 THE SEASON WHEN HE WAS 90
97 THE YEARS WHEN I WAS 89
98 THE MORNING WHEN IT ‘S 87
99 THE TIME WHEN THERE IS 85
100 THE TIMES WHEN YOU HAVE 85
A2 Vocabulary:
could, should, were