Clauses · CEFR C1 · Fluent

The man standing there — English clauses

A relative clause can lose its pronoun and its verb: "the man who is standing there" becomes "the man standing there".

The shape

noun + verb-ing · noun + third form

Shorten a relative clause the way writing does.

In Hindi

relative clause अपना सर्वनाम और क्रिया छोड़ सकता है — "the man standing there"।

CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.

The mistake to fix first

The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.

Commonly said	Correct English
The letter writing yesterday was lost.	The letter written yesterday was lost. The letter did not write — it was written, so it takes the third form.

Commonly said

Correct English

The letter writing yesterday was lost.

The letter written yesterday was lost.

The letter did not write — it was written, so it takes the third form.

Learn these first

These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.

Defining relative clausesB1Say exactly which person or thing you mean

Easy to confuse with

Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.

Walking home, I saw…C1Join two actions the way written English does

Questions people ask

What is the the man standing there used for?: A relative clause can lose its pronoun and its verb: "the man who is standing there" becomes "the man standing there". In practice: shorten a relative clause the way writing does.
How do you form the the man standing there?: noun + verb-ing · noun + third form.
What is the most common mistake with the the man standing there?: Saying “The letter writing yesterday was lost.” instead of “The letter written yesterday was lost.”. The letter did not write — it was written, so it takes the third form.

Where the man standing there fits

Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.

The man standing there is a CEFR C1 structure — the fluent band — and it belongs to clauses. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.

Walking home, I saw…C1

Reading it is not the same as saying it.

CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.

Practise the the man standing there →

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