That we knew them (S) surprised (V) the students (O). However, because each of those noun clauses itself contains a subject, verb, and object, the sentences superficially appear to deviate from SVO ...

Relative clauses come directly after the noun they are referring to ... ‘Who’ (a person or people) ‘Which’ (an object, a place or animals) ‘That’ (an object, a place or a person ...

Instead, it is contained by another sentence constituent, usually a noun phrase. Like all clauses, a relative clause must have at least a subject and a verb and may have an object and other ...

Relative clauses come directly after the noun they are referring to ... ‘Who’ (a person or people) ‘Which’ (an object, a place or animals) ‘That’ (an object, a place or a person ...