RELATIVE CLAUSES

DEFINING, NON-DEFINING and CONNECTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES

A relative clause gives us information about

which particular person or thing the speaker

is referring to.For example:

The girl who works in the bakery is my cousin.

The relative clause tells us which girl we are talking about

A kangaroo is an animal which lives in Australia.

The relative clause tells us which animal we refer to.

Relative Clause

RELATIVE PRONOUNSWe use WHO/ THAT to refer to people-The lady who/ that lives next door has a lot of pets.-The boy who/ that I met at Lucy’s party was very

handsome. -A doctor is a person who/ that treats sick peopleWe use WHICH / THAT to refer to things or animals.-Have you finished the book that/ which I gave you last

week?-A flamingo is a bird which/ that lives in warm climate.- The food which/that was served at the party wast

delicious.

RELATIVE PRONOUN AS SUBJECTWe cannot omit the relative pronoun when it is the subject

pronoun of the relative clause, that is when there is not a noun or subject pronoun between the relative pronoun and the verb. For example.

1) I met a girl. She is from Japan I met a girl who/that is from Japan2) What is the name of the prison?. It is on the outskirts of

the city. What is the name of the prison which/that is on the

outskirts of the city?

Who and which (or that) are the subjects of their relative clauses. Therefore, they cannot be omitted.

RELATIVE PRONOUN AS OBJECTWe can omit the relative pronoun when it is the object of the

relative clause; that is when there is a noun or subject pronoun between the verb and the relative pronoun.

1) That’s the hat. I bought it last week.

That’s the hat (which/ that) I bought last week

2) The man has now been released. The police arrested him

The man (who/ that) the police arrested has now been released.

Who and which (or that) are objects in their clauses, therefore, they can be omitted

RELATIVE CLAUSES WITH PREPOSITIONS- Have a look at these examples:

1) Do you know the girl?. Tom is talking to her.

In formal English, we would say:

Do you know the girl to whom Tom is talking.

In less formal English, we would say:

Do you know the girl who/that Tom is talking to?

*we place the preposition at the end of the sentence and the relative pronoun can be omitted:

Do you know the girl Tom is talking to?

Try these ones:

I didn’t get the job. I applied for it.

I enjoy my job because I like the people. I work with them.

WHOSE

We use whose instead of POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES (my, your, his, her…) with people, objects and animals to show possession.

1) That is the man. His car was stolen.

That’s the man whose car was stolen.

2) The woman was very happy. Her son got the highest grade in the exam

The woman whose son got the highest grade in the exam was very happy.

RELATIVE ADVERBS.1) WHERE is used to refer to a place. It usually

goes after nouns such as town, hotel, city, school…etc

“Where” can be replaced by which/ that…+ preposition. In this case, which/ that can be omitted.

The hotel wasn’t very clean. We stayed there.

The hotel where we stayed wasn’t very clean.

The hotel (which/that) we stayed at wasn’t very clean

* We can omit “where” only if we use the preposition at the end of the clause.

2) WHEN is used to refer to time. It usually goes after nouns such us time, year, month etc.. It can be replaced by “that”, and it can be omitted.

Do you still remember the day?. We met then.

Do you still remember the day when we met.

Do you still remember the day (that) we met.

Is there a time (when/that) we can meet?

WHY is used to express “reason”. It usually goes after the word “reason”. It can be replaced by “that”, and it can be omitted.

The reason was really stupid. He refused his job for that reason.

The reason (why/that) he refused his job was really stupid

The reason (why/that) I am phoning you is to invite you to a party.

DEFINING OR NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

A Defining Relative Clause givesnecessary information and it is essential to the meaning of the main sentence. The relative pronouns can be omitted when they are objects of the relative clause.

e.g People are fined. (which people?We don’t know. The meaning of the sentence isn’t clear.)People who/ that park illegally are

fined.

The film was boring. (Which film? We don’t know. The meaning isn’t clear.)

The film (which/ that) I watched yesterday was boring.

A Non-defining relative Clause givesextra information and is not essentialto the meaning of the main sentence.In non-defining relative clauses, the relative pronouns can not be omitted And can’t be replaced by “that”.The relative clause needs commas.

e.g Jeffersons live next door. (The meaning of the sentence is clear.)The Jeffersons, who own a Jaguar, live next door.

My cat is called Monty. (The meaning is clear)My cat, which I found on the street, is called Monty.(The relative clause gives extra info.)

CONNECTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSESConnective clauses do not describe their nouns but continue

the story. We are going to focus on these two types:

a) WHICH referring back to A WHOLE CLAUSE. Look at these examples:

He offered to help me. This was very kind of him.(This refers back to the whole, previous sentence. We can

join the two sentences by using WHICH)He offered to help me, which was very kind of him.

Another example:The clock struck thirteen. This made everyone laugh.The clock struck thirteen, which made everyone laugh.

B) ALL, BOTH, FEW, MOST, SEVERAL, SOME, ONE, TWO…etc + WHOM / WHICH

Have a look at the examples. They will help you to understand this kinds of sentences.

1- Her sons ring her up every day. Both of them are abroad.Her sons, both of whom are abroad, ring her up every day.2- He introduced me to the students. Most of whom were very

nice.He introduced me to the students, most of whom were very

nice.3-I saw several houses. Some of them were unsuitable.I saw several houses, some of which were unsuitable.4- He gave me four very bad tyres. One of them burst before I

had driven four miles.He gave me four very bad tyres, one of which burst before I

had driven four miles.