Here’s an example of using a defining relative clause for focus:
The person who sent me was you.
B1 Point 73 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as:
defining relative clauses: ‘the person who/that, the thing that, the (only) one who/that’ as a focusing device.
*Some people looking for information about a relative pronoun such as ‘who’ in an adjectival/relative clause might refer to it as a ‘who modifier’.
A collocate search in THE MOVIE CORPUS for:
. The only one who|that
The only one who can handle Stacy is Stacy.
1 WHO 85
2 CAN 15
3 EVER 11
4 COULD 11
5 KNOWS 8
A search in iWeb for:
. The _NN that|who
1 . THE FACT THAT 85135 (this probably more B2)
2 . THE PEOPLE WHO 11433
3 . THE IDEA THAT 11145
ADVANCED EXAMPLE:
The idea that privacy is dead is a myth.
The idea that people don’t care about their privacy because they have nothing to hide
or they’ve done nothing wrong is also a myth.
4 . THE PERSON WHO 7870
5 . THE THING THAT 7362
The thing that bothered me the most about that, the thing that really got under my skin, was that people kept bringing up Shaft.
A search for collocates in THE MOVIE CORPUS:
1 ME 89
2 MOST 21
3 REALLY 20
4 MAKES 12
5 ALWAYS 11
6 MADE 10
7 BOTHERS 9
8 GETS 7
9 STRUCK 5
10 INTERESTING 5
6 . THE MAN WHO 6022
7 . THE ONES THAT 5675
8 . THE REASON THAT 4894
9 . THE WAY THAT 4072
10 . THE GUY WHO 3081
11 . THE ONES WHO 2935
12 . THE PEOPLE THAT 2835
13 . THE THINGS THAT 2679
14 . THE NOTION THAT 2488
15 . THE INFORMATION THAT 1808
16 . THE TEAM THAT 1713
17 THE WOMAN WHO
The woman who found my wallet handed it in to reception.
18 . THE PART THAT 1642
19 . THE COMPANY THAT 1605
20 . THE QUESTION THAT 1604
21 . THE PROBLEM THAT 1448
22 . THE MEN WHO 1348
23 . THE PLAYER WHO 1285
24 . THE BELIEF THAT 1178
25 . THE COMPANIES THAT 1116
26 . THE PERSON THAT 1046
27 . THE CLAIM THAT 1044
28 . THE GUY THAT 1038
29 . THE WORK THAT 984
30 . THE KIND THAT 978
31 . THE ARGUMENT THAT 968
32 . THE AMOUNT THAT 967
33 . THE STUDENTS WHO 942
34 . THE GUYS WHO 939
35 . THE THOUGHT THAT 881
36 . THE FACTORS THAT 866
37 . THE WOMEN WHO 842
38 . THE POSSIBILITY THAT 807
39 . THE DATA THAT 766
40 . THE POINT THAT 763
41 . THE ASSUMPTION THAT 759
42 . THE GROUP THAT 751
43 . THE KNOWLEDGE THAT 751
44 . THE TIME THAT 750
45 . THE PROBABILITY THAT 735
46 . THE GIRL WHO 685
47 . THE STUFF THAT 680
48 . THE MONEY THAT 666
49 . THE STUDENT WHO 604
50 . THE CHILD WHO 599
51 . THE LADY WHO 584
52 . THE MOMENT THAT 584 C2
I think
democracy is the result of larger forces,
democracy is the default state of affairs,
we‘re not just making a mistake,
we‘re making ourselves into the kinds of people
who aren’t going to have a democracy.
53 . THE WATER THAT 571
54 . THE FOLKS WHO 557
55 . THE SUGGESTION THAT 554
56 . THE AREA THAT 543
57 . THE DAY THAT 531
58 . THE STORY THAT 530
59 . THE INDIVIDUAL WHO 513
60 . THE GUYS THAT 507
61 . THE MESSAGE THAT 503
62 . THE MAN THAT 496
63 . THE EVENTS THAT 482
64 . THE ISSUE THAT 480
65 . THE CHANGES THAT 473
66 . THE EVIDENCE THAT 469
67 . THE STATEMENT THAT 464
68 . THE ENERGY THAT 462
69 . THE CHILDREN WHO 462
70 . THE REALIZATION THAT 454
71 . THE THEORY THAT 451
72 . THE CONCEPT THAT 433
73 . THE FEELING THAT 431
74 . THE PLAYERS WHO 419
75 . THE POWERS THAT 414
76 . THE VIEW THAT 414
77 . THE CODE THAT 413
78 . THE PROCESS THAT 412
79 . THE PROBLEMS THAT 403
80 . THE WORDS THAT 401
81 . THE PRODUCTS THAT 397
82 . THE KIDS WHO 392
83 . THE QUESTIONS THAT 382
84 . THE DOCTOR WHO 375
85 . THE ITEMS THAT 369
86 . THE PARTS THAT 369
87 . THE LIGHT THAT 363
88 . THE NUMBER THAT 362
89 . THE AREAS THAT 358
90 . THE NEWS THAT 355
91 . THE VALUE THAT 349
92 . THE OFFICER WHO 344
93 . THE TECHNOLOGY THAT 344
94 . THE SOFTWARE THAT 342
95 . THE SKILLS THAT 341
96 . THE LIKELIHOOD THAT 339
97 . THE INDIVIDUALS WHO 338
98 . THE BOOK THAT 337
99 . THE IMAGE THAT 334
100 . THE MATERIAL THAT 334
. The _JJ _NN that|who
1 . THE ONLY THING THAT 19931
2 . THE OTHER THING THAT 1827
3 . THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO 1567
4 . THE ONLY WAY THAT 1557
5 . THE VERY FACT THAT 1368
6 . THE ONLY THINGS THAT 965
7 . THE MERE FACT THAT 952
8 . THE ONLY PERSON WHO 933
9 . THE ONLY REASON THAT 843
10 . THE MAIN THING THAT 764
11 . THE ONLY TIME THAT 712
12 . THE WORST THING THAT 681
13 . THE BEST THING THAT 628
14 . THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT 512
15 . THE ONLY ONES THAT 501
16 . THE ONLY PROBLEM THAT 495
17 . THE ONLY PART THAT 445
18 . THE ONLY ONES WHO 401
19 . THE MAIN REASON THAT 391
20 . THE SIMPLE FACT THAT 381 (this probably more B2)
21 . THE ONLY ISSUE THAT 321
22 . THE ONLY PLACE THAT 300
23 . THE ONLY QUESTION THAT 296
24 . THE BIGGEST THING THAT 293
25 . THE ONLY PERSON THAT 272
26 . THE VERY IDEA THAT 201
27 . THE YOUNG MAN WHO 188
28 . THE ONLY INFORMATION THAT 161
29 . THE BEST WAY THAT 150
30 . THE ONLY COMPLAINT THAT 144
31 . THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT THAT 143
32 . THE ONLY AREA THAT 137
33 . THE OLD ADAGE THAT 135
34 . THE ONLY DIFFERENCE THAT 132
35 . THE BIGGEST PROBLEM THAT 129
36 . THE VERY THING THAT 127
37 . THE ONLY CHANGE THAT 116
38 . THE BIG THING THAT 106
39 . THE MAIN PROBLEM THAT 106
40 . THE PERSONAL INFORMATION THAT 105
41 . THE ONLY FACTOR THAT 96
42 . THE MAIN FACTORS THAT 95
43 . THE ONLY OPTION THAT 92
44 . THE OTHER FACTOR THAT 92
45 . THE ONLY PARTS THAT 91
46 . THE PRIMARY REASON THAT 88
47 . THE MAIN ISSUE THAT 86
48 . THE ONLY SOLUTION THAT 83
49 . THE ONLY DOWNSIDE THAT 81
50 . THE ONLY ITEMS THAT 81
51 . THE VERY PEOPLE WHO 80
52 . THE WHOLE IDEA THAT 80 (this might be more B2)
53 . THE ONLY COMPANY THAT 78
54 . THE ONLY MAN WHO 76
55 . THE ONLY DRAWBACK THAT 75
56 . THE BIG QUESTION THAT 74
57 . THE BEST ADVICE THAT 73
58 . THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO 72
59 . THE ONLY ITEM THAT 71
60 . THE ONLY FEATURE THAT 69
61 . THE ONLY GAME THAT 69
62 . THE OTHER ISSUE THAT 69
63 . THE YOUNG LADY WHO 69
64 . THE BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT 68
65 . THE LITTLE THINGS THAT 68
66 . THE TOTAL AMOUNT THAT 67
67 . THE OTHER REASON THAT 66
68 . THE COMMON THREAD THAT 65
69 . THE ONLY TEAM THAT 65
70 . THE OLD SAYING THAT 64
71 . THE OTHER THINGS THAT 63
72 . THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT 61
73 . THE YOUNG MEN WHO 61
74 . THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO 61
75 . THE ONLY EVIDENCE THAT 60
76 . THE VERY THINGS THAT 60
77 . THE MAIN FACTOR THAT 59
78 . THE MAIN THINGS THAT 59
79 . THE ONLY INDICATION THAT 58
80 . THE ONLY PLACES THAT 58
81 . THE BIGGEST ISSUE THAT 56
82 . THE KEY THING THAT 55
83 . THE ONLY PRODUCT THAT 55
84 . THE AVERAGE PERSON WHO 54
85 . THE OTHER FEATURE THAT 54
86 . THE OTHER PART THAT 54
87 . THE CLOSEST THING THAT 53
88 . THE LITTLE GIRL WHO 53
89 . THE MAIN FEATURE THAT 53
90 . THE ONLY ASPECT THAT 53
91 . THE OTHER FACTORS THAT 53
92 . THE OTHER PROBLEM THAT 53
93 . THE ONLY CONCLUSION THAT 51
94 . THE REAL QUESTION THAT 51
95 . THE ONLY PLAYER WHO 50
96 . THE REAL REASON THAT 49
97 . THE ONLY METHOD THAT 48
98 . THE ONLY EXCEPTION THAT 47
99 . THE ONLY TIMES THAT 47
100 . THE YOUNG MAN THAT 47
A2 Vocabulary:
advice, area, areas, companies, company, difference, fact, guy, guys, idea, information,
mistake, moment, news, point, real, reason, simple, software, story, team, view, way, whole, worst
PELIC STUDENT EXAMPLE:
The people who come should find your house easily.
Turkish, Female, Level 3, Writing Class.
EXPERT EXAMPLE:
The emotions that go into human communication can’t be replaced by software, he says.