Appearance
Unit 96 — Relative clauses 5: extra information clauses (2)
A. preposition + whom/which
You can use a preposition + whom (for people) and which (for things).
So you can say:
| People | Things |
|---|---|
| to whom | of which |
| with whom | without which |
| about whom | from which |
| etc. | etc. |
Examples:
- Mr Lee, to whom I spoke at the meeting, is interested in our proposal.
- Fortunately we had a good map, without which we would have got lost.
In spoken English we often keep the preposition after the verb in the relative clause:
- Katherine told me she works for a company called ‘Latoma’, which I’d never heard of before.
We do not use whom when the preposition is in this position:
- Mr Lee, who I spoke to at the meeting, is interested in our proposal. (not Mr Lee, whom I spoke to …)
For prepositions in relative clauses, see also Unit 93C.
1. preposition + whom / which
这一部分讲的是：
介词 + 关系代词
基本结构：
preposition + whom → 人
preposition + which → 物
2. 1 指人的时候：介词 + whom
例如：
Mr Lee, to whom I spoke at the meeting, is interested in our proposal.
拆开原来的两个信息：
I spoke to Mr Lee at the meeting.
Mr Lee is interested in our proposal.
因为：
Mr Lee → 人
而且原来的结构是：
speak to somebody
所以合并后：
Mr Lee, to whom I spoke at the meeting, is interested in our proposal.
这里：
to whom = to Mr Lee
常见结构：
to whom
with whom
about whom
from whom
例如：
The woman with whom I work is from Canada.
原来的结构：
I work with the woman.
所以：
with whom = with the woman
3. 2 指物的时候：介词 + which
例如：
Fortunately we had a good map, without which we would have got lost.
原来的逻辑：
Without the map, we would have got lost.
这里：
map → 物
所以使用：
without which
完整：
Fortunately we had a good map, without which we would have got lost.
意思：
幸运的是，我们有一张好地图，没有这张地图的话，我们可能就迷路了。
常见结构：
of which
with which
without which
from which
in which
for which
4. 正式英语 vs 日常口语
介词可以放在关系代词前面：
The man to whom I spoke ...
这种结构比较：
正式
在日常英语中，更常见的是把介词放在后面：
The man who I spoke to ...
例如：
正式
Mr Lee, to whom I spoke at the meeting, is interested in our proposal.
日常
Mr Lee, who I spoke to at the meeting, is interested in our proposal.
两句话基本意思一样。
再例如：
正式
The person with whom I work is very friendly.
日常
The person who I work with is very friendly.
日常口语通常优先：
who ... preposition
5. 介词放在后面时不用 whom
书中的规则：
We do not use whom when the preposition is in this position.
例如：
Mr Lee, who I spoke to at the meeting, is interested in our proposal.
而不是：
❌ Mr Lee, whom I spoke to at the meeting ...
按照本单元推荐的表达：
正式
to whom I spoke
日常
who I spoke to
因此可以建立一个简单模型：
介词在前 → whom
介词在后 → who
6. which + 介词在日常英语中的变化
书中的例子：
Katherine told me she works for a company called ‘Latoma’, which I’d never heard of before.
这里来自：
I’d never heard of Latoma before.
关系从句：
which I’d never heard of
注意介词：
of
被保留在后面。
因此：
a company which I’d never heard of
意思：
一家我以前从来没有听说过的公司。
B. all of / most of etc. + whom/which
You can say:
- Helen has three brothers, all of whom are married.
- They asked me a lot of questions, most of which I couldn’t answer.
In the same way you can say:
| For people | For things |
|---|---|
| many of whom | none of which |
| some of whom | both of which |
| neither of whom | one of which |
| etc. | etc. |
Examples:
- Martin tried on three jackets, none of which fitted him.
- Two men, neither of whom I had seen before, came into the office.
- They have three cars, two of which they rarely use.
- Sue has a lot of friends, many of whom she was at school with.
You can also say:
the cause of which
the name of which
etc.
Examples:
- The house was damaged in a fire, the cause of which was never established.
- We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the name of which I don’t remember now.
7. 数量 + of whom / of which
这是这一单元非常重要的结构：
数量/范围 + of whom/which
其中：
whom → 人
which → 物
8. 1 指人：of whom
例如：
Helen has three brothers, all of whom are married.
拆开：
Helen has three brothers.
All of them are married.
把：
them
换成：
whom
得到：
Helen has three brothers, all of whom are married.
所以可以理解成：
all of whom ≈ all of them
区别在于：
all of them → 独立句子
all of whom → 关系从句
例如：
Sue has a lot of friends, many of whom she was at school with.
原来的逻辑：
Sue has a lot of friends.
She was at school with many of them.
合并：
Sue has a lot of friends, many of whom she was at school with.
常见结构：
all of whom
many of whom
some of whom
neither of whom
9. 指物：of which
例如：
They asked me a lot of questions, most of which I couldn’t answer.
拆开：
They asked me a lot of questions.
I couldn’t answer most of them.
合并：
They asked me a lot of questions, most of which I couldn’t answer.
所以：
most of which ≈ most of them
再例如：
Martin tried on three jackets, none of which fitted him.
原来：
Martin tried on three jackets.
None of them fitted him.
合并：
Martin tried on three jackets, none of which fitted him.
再例如：
They have three cars, two of which they rarely use.
原来：
They have three cars.
They rarely use two of them.
合并：
They have three cars, two of which they rarely use.
10. 数字 + of which
非常常用：
one of which
two of which
three of which
例如：
I have three computers, two of which are Macs.
意思：
我有三台电脑，其中两台是 Mac。
再例如：
The software supports several file formats, three of which are DXF, DWG and PDF.
意思：
这个软件支持多种文件格式，其中三种是 DXF、DWG 和 PDF。
这种结构在：
- 写作
- 工作介绍
- 技术文档
- 雅思写作
中都很实用。
11. the + noun + of which
还可以使用：
the cause of which
the name of which
例如：
The house was damaged in a fire, the cause of which was never established.
可以理解为：
The house was damaged in a fire.
The cause of the fire was never established.
这里：
of which = of the fire
所以：
the cause of which
≈
the cause of the fire
另一个例子：
We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the name of which I don’t remember now.
拆开：
We stayed at a beautiful hotel.
I don’t remember the name of the hotel now.
合并：
We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the name of which I don’t remember now.
所以：
the name of which
≈
the name of the hotel
C. which (not what)
Study this example:
Joe got the job. This surprised everybody. (2 sentences)
↓
Joe got the job, which surprised everybody. (1 sentence)
In this example:
which = ‘the fact that Joe got the job’
We use which (not what) in sentences like these:
Sarah couldn’t meet us, which was a shame. (not what was a shame)
The weather was good, which we hadn’t expected. (not what we hadn’t expected)
For what and that, see Units 92D and 93D.
12. which 可以指代前面整件事情
这是本单元另一个非常重要的知识点。
以前我们学习的 which 通常指一个：
thing / noun
例如：
I bought a computer, which is very expensive.
这里：
which = the computer
但是这一单元告诉我们：
which 还可以指代前面整个句子所表达的事情。
例如：
Joe got the job, which surprised everybody.
这里 which 不是：
the job
而是：
the fact that Joe got the job
也就是：
Joe 得到了这份工作这件事
让所有人感到惊讶。
原来的两个句子：
Joe got the job.
This surprised everybody.
合并：
Joe got the job, which surprised everybody.
因此可以建立：
which ≈ this fact / this situation
13. which 指代整个前句
例如：
Sarah couldn’t meet us, which was a shame.
这里：
which ≠ Sarah
也不是：
which ≠ us
而是：
Sarah couldn’t meet us 这件事情
所以：
which was a shame
=
This was a shame.
意思：
Sarah 没办法来见我们，这很遗憾。
再例如：
The weather was good, which we hadn’t expected.
这里：
which = the fact that the weather was good
意思：
天气很好，这是我们没有预料到的。
14. 这里必须使用 which，而不是 what
正确：
Sarah couldn’t meet us, which was a shame.
错误：
❌ Sarah couldn’t meet us, what was a shame.
正确：
The weather was good, which we hadn’t expected.
错误：
❌ The weather was good, what we hadn’t expected.
原因是：
which 可以回指前面已经出现的整个情况。
而：
what = the thing(s) that
它本身包含先行词的含义，不用于这种“回指前面整件事”的结构。
15. Unit 96 三个核心结构
结构 ①：介词 + whom / which
人
preposition + whom
例如：
the man to whom I spoke
the person with whom I work
物
preposition + which
例如：
the map without which we would have got lost
日常口语
介词通常放到后面：
the man who I spoke to
the person who I work with
the company which I’d never heard of
结构 ②：数量 + of whom / which
人
all of whom
many of whom
some of whom
neither of whom
例如：
I have three colleagues, all of whom are software engineers.
物
most of which
none of which
both of which
one/two/three of which
例如：
I have three computers, two of which are Macs.
结构 ③：which 指代前面整件事
结构：
完整句子, which + ...
例如：
I passed the exam, which made me very happy.
这里：
which = the fact that I passed the exam
不是：
exam
而是：
我通过考试这件事
16. 最终思维模型
遇到 whom / which 时，可以按照下面的顺序判断。
第一步：介词后面是人还是物？
人：
preposition + whom
例如：
the person with whom I work
物：
preposition + which
例如：
the tool with which I work
第二步：是不是表达“其中一些 / 其中几个 / 其中全部”？
人：
数量 + of whom
例如：
three friends, two of whom ...
物：
数量 + of which
例如：
three computers, two of which ...
第三步：which 前面是不是一个完整的事实？
例如：
I got the job, which made me happy.
如果：
which ≈ this fact / this situation
那么 which 指代：
前面整件事情
17. 一句话记忆
介词 + 人 → whom
介词 + 物 → which
其中一些人 → some/many/all of whom
其中一些东西 → some/many/all of which
前面整件事 → , which ...
例如：
I have three colleagues, two of whom work with me on CAD software.
Our software supports several formats, three of which are DXF, DWG and PDF.
The software runs in a web browser, which makes it easy to use on different devices.