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I got the opportunity to work on a comedy programme at the BBC and I worked with a quite famous comedian, who's whose role was the sort of star of the show.
And I got to write some jokes for him and he used them and that was very exciting.
I would be on the go-karts supervising, and then I would have to lift the baby goats and put them back.
And I used to enjoy cuddling the little goats because they were so cute.
Hello and welcome to Learning English Grammar.
I'm Pippa.
And I'm Phil.
We've just heard Beth and Neil talking about different jobs that they've done.
Today, we're going to look at how you can use relative clauses in descriptions of jobs.
Now you can read along with this podcast using the transcript on our website, bbclearningenglishcom.
So, Phil, what's the most interesting job you've ever done?
Yeah, so maybe the most unusual is when I worked serving food in the jockey's changing room at a really famous horse racing event.
Because the jockeys didn't actually eat anything.
It was just the people around them.
Oh, OK, because they had to get ready for the race.
They couldn't be too heavy as well.
They get weighed, don't they?
The most interesting job I've ever done.
It wasn't that interesting, but I did work for a concert company in the town where I live for a small amount of time.
So I got to be backstage and see some musicians, which was quite cool.
That sounds really fun.
OK, well, we asked Beth and Neil about the most interesting or unusual jobs that they'd ever done.
Have a listen and see if you can hear any relative clauses.
These are clauses that start with words like who, which, where and whose.
I've had some interesting jobs, especially when I was a student.
One that I remember well was I worked for an auction company and they were auctioning rugs.
And I was the person whose job it was to hold rugs up for people to buy.
So when the goats escaped, there was someone whose job was to get the goats back into where they lived.
And sometimes that was my job.
I would be on the go-karts supervising, and then I would have to lift the baby goats and put them back.
And I used to enjoy cuddling the little goats because they were so cute.
So I heard Neil say he was the person whose job it was to hold rugs up for people to buy.
And I heard Beth say that there was someone whose job it was to get the goats back and that it was Beth that sometimes had to get the goats.
So, we've got two clauses here beginning with whose.
Pippa, can you think of a person whose knowledge of grammar would be really useful here?
Someone whose knowledge of grammar would be helpful.
I'll text her now.
The group chat called, it sounds like we need to look at relative clauses.
Yes, Georgie, can you tell us a bit more about them?
Yes, so relative clauses allow us to say more about something.
Sometimes it's the most important thing we have to say about that thing.
Sometimes it's just something extra.
We start with that something or someone and a word like who's, where, which.
Then we add a clause with the extra information.
Let's hear Neil and Beth's relative clauses.
I was the person whose job it was to hold rugs up for people to buy.
There was someone whose job was to... get the goats back into where they lived.
We start with the person or someone.
Neil said, I was the person.
Beth said, there was someone.
Then we had whose.
This is because we're talking about jobs and we use whose for something we have.
We can have a job.
Neil is talking about the person whose job it was to hold up rugs for people to buy.
Beth is talking about someone whose job it was to get the goats back into where they lived.
Thanks Georgie.
You're the person whose answers I always listen to.
Is there anything else important to remember about relative clauses, Georgie?
Yes, Pippa, there are two main kinds.
The examples we just heard are defining relative clauses.
These contain information that is essential to the sentence.
If you take them out, the sentence doesn't mean anything anymore.
We can also use whose in non-defining relative clauses.
These add information that might be interesting, but isn't essential to the sentence.
Listen to these examples.
I was the youngest employee whose job it was to hold up the rugs.
I had to rescue the baby goats whose home was near the go-kart track.
So, there are non-defining relative clauses here.
Yes.
If the sentences were just I was the youngest employee or I had to rescue the goats they would still make sense.
Great.
Thanks, Georgie.
Glad I could help.
See you next time.
Bye.
Bye.
Okay, so let's recap.
One of the words that we can use to make relative clauses is whose.
We use it with things that people have, like possessions or jobs.
Defining relative clauses are those which are essential to a sentence, and non-defining relative clauses add extra information that can be left out.
OK, Pippa, let's play a game to practice what we've learnt.
I'm going to describe a job and you have to guess which job I'm describing.
And if you're listening to this, see if you can guess the job before Pippa does.
Are you ready?
Yes.
OK, what do we call someone whose job it is to get people to buy a house?
An estate agent.
Yes, that's right.
An estate agent is the person whose job it is to get people to buy a house.
OK, next one.
What do we call the person whose job it is to make ill people well again?
Be a doctor or maybe a nurse.
Actually, yes, either of those are good.
Yeah, they work.
And finally, someone whose role is to make sure an office runs smoothly.
What do we call them?
An office manager.
Yeah, an office manager.
Yes, that's exactly right.
What's the most interesting or exciting job you've ever done?
Let us know by emailing us at learningenglishatbbc.co.uk Yeah, that's it for this episode.
We learned that Beth really likes cuddling baby goats.
And we learned the difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses.
We'll be back next week to learn some more grammar tips.
In the meantime, you can test what you've learned in this episode with the worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglishcom.
Bye for now.
Bye.
