How to Use Advanced Relative Clauses in Professional Writing

Advanced relative clauses are essential tools for crafting sophisticated and precise sentences in professional writing. They allow writers to provide additional information about a noun or pronoun without disrupting the flow of the main sentence. Mastering these structures can significantly enhance the clarity and complexity of your writing, making it more engaging and informative for your readers.

Understanding Advanced Relative Clauses

Advanced relative clauses go beyond simple descriptive phrases. They include non-defining relative clauses, reduced relative clauses, and relative clauses with prepositions. These structures enable writers to pack more information into their sentences while maintaining coherence and style.

Types of Advanced Relative Clauses

1. Non-defining relative clauses: These provide extra, non-essential information about the noun.
2. Reduced relative clauses: These are shortened versions of full relative clauses, often omitting the relative pronoun and verb.
3. Relative clauses with prepositions: These involve the use of prepositions before or after the relative pronoun.

Advanced Relative Clauses Diagram

Importance in Professional Writing

Incorporating advanced relative clauses in your professional writing can:

• Enhance precision and clarity
• Add sophistication to your writing style
• Allow for more complex ideas to be expressed concisely
• Improve the overall flow and readability of your documents

Implementing Advanced Relative Clauses

To effectively use advanced relative clauses in your professional writing, consider the following strategies:

1. Non-defining Relative Clauses

Non-defining relative clauses add extra information that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. They are always set off by commas.

Example:
“The new marketing strategy, which was developed by our team last month, has shown promising results.”

In this sentence, the clause “which was developed by our team last month” provides additional information but is not crucial to understanding the main point about the marketing strategy’s results.

2. Reduced Relative Clauses

Reduced relative clauses omit the relative pronoun and the form of “to be” when it’s not necessary for understanding.

Example:
“The report submitted yesterday contains vital information for our project.”

Here, “submitted yesterday” is a reduced form of “which was submitted yesterday.”

3. Relative Clauses with Prepositions

These clauses involve placing prepositions either before the relative pronoun or at the end of the clause.

Example:
“The client with whom we’ve been negotiating has finally agreed to our terms.”
OR
“The client whom we’ve been negotiating with has finally agreed to our terms.”

Both versions are correct, with the first being more formal and the second more conversational.

Best Practices for Using Advanced Relative Clauses

To ensure your use of advanced relative clauses enhances rather than complicates your writing, follow these guidelines:

1. Use sparingly: Overuse can make your writing feel cluttered or overly complex.
2. Ensure clarity: Make sure the antecedent (the noun being described) is clear.
3. Maintain consistency: If you’re using formal language, stick with more formal constructions (e.g., “with whom” instead of “who…with”).
4. Check for proper punctuation: Non-defining clauses require commas, while defining clauses do not.

Professional Writing Example

Common Mistakes to Avoid

When using advanced relative clauses, be wary of these common pitfalls:

1. Misplacing modifiers: Ensure your relative clause is placed next to the noun it modifies.
   Incorrect: “We received the report from the analyst, which contained several errors.”
   Correct: “We received the report, which contained several errors, from the analyst.”

2. Overcomplicating sentences: Sometimes, splitting a complex sentence into two simpler ones can improve clarity.

3. Mixing up ‘that’ and ‘which’: In defining clauses, ‘that’ is often preferred, while ‘which’ is used for non-defining clauses.

4. Forgetting necessary commas: Always use commas to set off non-defining relative clauses.

Practical Exercises

To improve your skills with advanced relative clauses, try these exercises:

1. Rewrite simple sentences using relative clauses:
   Simple: “The project was successful. It was completed on time.”
   Advanced: “The project, which was completed on time, was successful.”

2. Combine sentences using reduced relative clauses:
   Simple: “The candidate was hired last week. She has extensive experience in marketing.”
   Advanced: “The candidate hired last week has extensive experience in marketing.”

3. Practice using relative clauses with prepositions:
   Simple: “We collaborated with a company. The company specializes in AI.”
   Advanced: “We collaborated with a company whose specialty is AI.”

Conclusion

Mastering advanced relative clauses can significantly elevate your professional writing. By providing more nuanced and detailed information within your sentences, you can create more sophisticated and precise documents. Remember to use these structures judiciously, always prioritizing clarity and readability. With practice, you’ll find that advanced relative clauses become a natural and powerful tool in your professional writing toolkit.

For more insights on enhancing your English writing skills, check out our guide on mastering the use of conjunctions in complex ideas. Additionally, if you’re looking to refine your grammar for business contexts, our article on advanced grammar for business English provides valuable tips and techniques.