defining relative clause (time) – English Grammar Profiler

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

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

100 THE TIMES WHEN YOU HAVE 85