In each exercise, reduce relative clauses. In few cases where reduction leads to an awkward sentence, don’t reduce. Here is a sample question answered for you:
Q. The heart that loves is always young.
A. Although the relative clause fulfils the condition for reduction, it shouldn’t be because it leads to an awkward construction: The heart loving is always young.
If you’ve any confusion on how relative clauses are reduced, you may go through the post on how to reduce relative clauses?
Exercise 1
1. I chatted with my colleague, who is going through tough time after loss of a family member, to divert his attention and cheer him up.
2. He is a person whom you can disagree with, and he won’t mind.
3. The product, which seemed perfect in many ways, failed to succeed in the market.
4. I joined the weight-loss program that promised reduction of 10 kgs in a month.
5. Participial phrases, which act adjectivally, too are pretty mobile.
1. I chatted with my colleague, going through tough time after loss of a family member, to divert his attention and cheer him up.
2. It can’t be reduced because the relative pronoun whom can never be the subject of a relative clause. Only who, that, and which can be.
3. The product, perfect in many ways, failed to succeed in the market. [seem is treated like a be verb]
4. I joined the weight-loss program promising reduction of 10 kgs in a month.
5. Although it fulfils the condition for reduction, it shouldn’t be reduced because it leads to an awkward construction.
Exercise 2
1. Diamond, which is extremely hard and expensive, is produced by intense heat and under great pressure.
2. You can combine multiple activities that are similar to avoid switching back and forth.
3. I can’t find the watch that you bought last week.
4. The municipal council passed the resolution to demolish the old building, which was close to collapsing.
5. The library, which had been in a state of neglect for long, finally received funds from the municipal council.
1. Diamond, extremely hard and expensive, is produced by intense heat and under great pressure.
2. You can combine multiple similar activities to avoid switching back and forth. [Reduction results in an adjective, which is then brought in front of the noun.]
3. It can’t be reduced because that is not the subject of the relative clause; you is. You can though drop that, but that’s not reduction of clause.
4. Although it fulfils the condition for reduction, it shouldn’t be reduced because it leads to an awkward construction.
5. The library, having been in a state of neglect for long, finally received funds from the municipal council.
