Reference map

Chọn relative pronoun từ danh từ được mô tả

  1. Ngườiwho · that
  2. Vật hoặc ýwhich · that
  3. Sở hữuwhose
  4. Nơi hoặc thời gianwhere · whennon-defining clause cần dấu phẩy và không dùng that

Tóm tắt

Decision flowchart — Defining hay Non-defining?

Hỏi: "Nếu bỏ relative clause, người nghe có XÁC ĐỊNH được noun này không?"

  • CÓ (vẫn xác định được — relative clause chỉ thêm thông tin) → NON-DEFINING → DÙNG dấu phẩy → DÙNG "which" hoặc "who" (KHÔNG "that")
  • KHÔNG (relative clause cần thiết để biết noun này là cái gì) → DEFINING → KHÔNG dấu phẩy → DÙNG "which/who/that"

Ví dụ: - "My brother, who lives in Hanoi, called me yesterday." (non-defining: chỉ có 1 anh trai → who lives in Hanoi chỉ thêm thông tin → CÓ phẩy) - "The book that I borrowed is interesting." (defining: nhiều sách → "that I borrowed" cần để biết SÁCH NÀO → KHÔNG phẩy)

Mệnh đề quan hệ (Relative Clause) là một mệnh đề phụ đứng ngay sau danh từ để bổ sung thông tin về danh từ đó. Nó được mở đầu bởi relative pronoun (who, which, that, whose, whom) hoặc relative adverb (where, when, why).

  • The student who won the prize is from my class. (mô tả "student" nào)
  • The book that I borrowed was very interesting. (mô tả cuốn sách nào)
  • This is the city where I was born. (mô tả thành phố)

Tại sao quan trọng

Mệnh đề quan hệ cho phép kết hợp hai câu ngắn thành một câu phức, tạo ra văn phong học thuật và tự nhiên hơn. Trong IELTS Writing và Speaking, thiếu cấu trúc này sẽ giới hạn điểm Grammatical Range.

Relative Pronouns và Relative Adverbs

Từ Thay thế cho Chức năng Ví dụ
who người chủ ngữ The man who called you is my boss.
whom người tân ngữ (trang trọng) The manager whom I met was helpful.
which vật / ý chủ ngữ hoặc tân ngữ The car which I bought last year broke down.
that người hoặc vật chủ ngữ hoặc tân ngữ The book that she recommended was amazing.
whose sở hữu (người/vật) The student whose work I read was talented.
where nơi chốn The city where I grew up has changed a lot.
when thời gian I remember the day when we first met.
why lý do That's the reason why I quit.

Who vs. Whom

  • Who = chủ ngữ (subject) của mệnh đề quan hệ:
  • The teacher who taught me English retired last year. (who = chủ ngữ: "who taught me")
  • Whom = tân ngữ (object) — trang trọng, hay bị thay bằng "who" trong giao tiếp:
  • The doctor whom I consulted recommended rest. (whom = tân ngữ: "I consulted whom")

That vs. Which / Who

  • That dùng trong mệnh đề quan hệ xác định (defining relative clause)
  • Which dùng trong mệnh đề quan hệ không xác định (non-defining) hoặc thay thế "that"
  • That KHÔNG dùng trong non-defining clause

Loại 1: Defining Relative Clauses — Mệnh đề xác định

Cung cấp thông tin thiết yếu để xác định danh từ — không có dấu phẩy.

Nếu bỏ mệnh đề này, câu mất nghĩa hoặc không rõ đề cập đến ai/cái gì.

  • The woman who lives next door is a nurse. (xác định người phụ nữ nào)
  • I want to buy the car that/which is in the window. (xác định chiếc xe nào)
  • Children who eat well tend to be healthier. (xác định nhóm trẻ em nào)

Có thể bỏ relative pronoun khi nó là tân ngữ của mệnh đề quan hệ:

  • The book (that/which) I read was fascinating. (that/which = tân ngữ → có thể bỏ)
  • The man (who/that) she married is very kind. (who/that = tân ngữ → có thể bỏ)
  • The car (that) I bought broke down. ✅

Không thể bỏ khi relative pronoun là chủ ngữ: - The book that is on the table is mine. ✅ (that = chủ ngữ, không bỏ được)

Loại 2: Non-defining Relative Clauses — Mệnh đề không xác định

Cung cấp thông tin bổ sung (có thể bỏ mà không ảnh hưởng đến nghĩa chính) — có dấu phẩy cả hai đầu.

  • My sister, who lives in London, is visiting next week. (đã biết tôi chỉ có một chị → thông tin thêm)
  • The Eiffel Tower, which was built in 1889, is one of the most visited monuments in the world.
  • Last summer, when I was in Paris, I visited several museums.

Luật quan trọng: - KHÔNG dùng "that" trong non-defining clause - KHÔNG bỏ relative pronoun trong non-defining clause - Luôn có dấu phẩy

❌ My sister, that lives in London, is visiting. (sai — dùng "that" trong non-defining) ✅ My sister, who lives in London, is visiting.

Whose — sở hữu

"Whose" thay thế cho 's hoặc his/her/its:

  • I know a student. His work won first prize. → I know a student whose work won first prize.
  • The company whose products I use has just launched a new app.
  • She lives in a house whose roof is painted red.

Where, When, Why

  • Where = in which / at which (nơi chốn):
  • This is the school where I studied for ten years.

  • This is the school in which I studied. (trang trọng hơn)

  • When = at which / during which (thời gian):

  • I remember the summer when we travelled across Europe.

  • There are times when I feel overwhelmed.

  • Why = for which (lý do — chỉ dùng sau "reason"):

  • That's the reason why she left the company.
  • That's the reason (why/that/∅) she left.

Rút gọn mệnh đề quan hệ (Reduced Relative Clauses)

Khi relative pronoun là chủ ngữ, có thể rút gọn bằng cách:

→ V-ing (khi mệnh đề ở thể chủ động): - The man who is standing at the door is my father. - → The man standing at the door is my father.

  • Students who want to improve should practise daily.
  • → Students wanting to improve should practise daily.

→ V3 (past participle) (khi mệnh đề ở thể bị động): - The letter that was written in French was hard to read. - → The letter written in French was hard to read.

  • The report which was published last year has been updated.
  • → The report published last year has been updated.

Lỗi thường gặp

Lỗi 1: Dùng "that" trong non-defining clause

  • ❌ My brother, that is a doctor, lives in Hanoi.
  • ✅ My brother, who is a doctor, lives in Hanoi.

Lỗi 2: Dùng lại đại từ sau relative pronoun (double pronoun)

  • ❌ The student who he won the prize is from my class.
  • ✅ The student who won the prize is from my class. (bỏ "he")
  • ❌ The book which I read it was amazing.
  • ✅ The book which I read was amazing. (bỏ "it")

Lỗi 3: Dùng "which" thay vì "whose"

  • ❌ The company which products are famous worldwide...
  • ✅ The company whose products are famous worldwide...

Lỗi 4: Quên dấu phẩy trong non-defining clause

  • ❌ My mother who is 60 years old still works full time.
  • ✅ My mother, who is 60 years old, still works full time.

Lỗi 5: Dùng "which" để thay toàn bộ mệnh đề (Sentence relative clause)

Có thể dùng "which" để bình luận về toàn bộ ý của mệnh đề trước — nhưng chỉ trong non-defining:

  • She passed all her exams, which made her parents very proud.
  • He refused to apologise, which surprised everyone.

✅ Cấu trúc này rất hữu ích cho IELTS Writing.

Ứng dụng trong IELTS

Writing Task 2 — thêm thông tin về chủ đề:

  • Young people who grow up in cities often have more opportunities than those who live in rural areas.
  • Technology, which has transformed every aspect of modern life, brings both benefits and challenges.
  • The country whose economy grew fastest last decade is now facing new challenges.

Writing Task 1 — mô tả dữ liệu:

  • The year when sales reached their peak was 2019.
  • Countries where literacy rates are high tend to have stronger economies.

Speaking — mô tả người và nơi:

  • She's the kind of person who always makes you feel welcome.
  • It's a place where you can completely relax and forget about work.
  • I remember a time when we had no internet and had to look everything up in books.

Bài tập luyện

Nối hai câu bằng mệnh đề quan hệ

  1. The woman works at the airport. She helped us find our gate.
  2. I live in a small town. The town has a beautiful old castle.
  3. I have a friend. Her father is a famous artist.
  4. 1990 was the year. I was born that year.
  5. The report was very useful. I read the report yesterday.

Sửa lỗi

  1. My car, that I bought last year, has already broken down.
  2. The student who she won the prize is from Hanoi.
  3. This is the city which I grew up in it.
  4. He's someone which I really admire.
  5. The man, whose lives next door, is a doctor.

Đáp án

Nối câu: 1. The woman who helped us find our gate works at the airport. 2. I live in a small town that/which has a beautiful old castle. 3. I have a friend whose father is a famous artist. 4. 1990 was the year when I was born / in which I was born. 5. The report (that/which) I read yesterday was very useful.

Sửa lỗi: 1. My car, which I bought last year, has already broken down. (non-defining → which, không phải that) 2. The student who won the prize is from Hanoi. (bỏ "she") 3. This is the city where I grew up / in which I grew up. (bỏ "in it") 4. He's someone who/whom I really admire. (người → who/whom, không phải which) 5. The man who lives next door is a doctor. (non-defining sai: nếu đây là mệnh đề xác định → không dấu phẩy; nếu non-defining → The man next door, who is a doctor, ...)

Tóm tắt nhanh

Relative pronouns: - who → người (chủ ngữ) - whom → người (tân ngữ, trang trọng) - which → vật - that → người hoặc vật (chỉ dùng trong defining clause) - whose → sở hữu

Relative adverbs: - where → nơi chốn | when → thời gian | why → lý do (sau "reason")

Hai loại:

Defining Non-defining
Dấu phẩy Không Có
"that" Được Không được
Bỏ được không Bỏ được (nếu là object) Không bỏ được
Ý nghĩa Thiết yếu Bổ sung

Rút gọn: relative pronoun (subject) + be → bỏ hết; hoặc dùng V-ing / V3