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Relative Clauses

+Relative clauses are introduced by relative pronouns ( who, which, that, whose ) and relative adverbs (where, when ).

PRONOUNSPEOPLE Who / thatTHINGS/

ANIMALS/IDEASWhich / that 

POSSESSION Whose

ADVERBSPLACE Where

TIME When

+We have two types of relative clauses:

Defining

S + V + Relative adverb/pronoun + VWe can meet at the café which is on Grandview.

S + Relative adverb/pronoun + S + V + VThe place where I live is beautiful.

Non-defining

S + ,Relative adverb/pronoun + V, + VFacebook , which is a social network, is popular.

+Defining relative clauses

Give information which is needed to understand the meaning of the sentence. They are NOT separated from the man clause by commas.

She’s the girl who/that lives next door.

The book (which/that) you bought is on the desk.

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NOTE

• Who, Which and That can be omitted if they refer to the object of the sentence. Whose and Where cannot be omitted.

• In formal language prepositions appear at the beginning of relative clause.

The chair on which I am sitting isn’t very confortable.

• In informal language they appear at the end of the relative clause.

The chair (which /that) I’m sitting on isn`t very confortable.

+Non-defining relative clauses

Give extra information about the person, thing or idea they refer to. They are always separated from the main clause by commas.

Mr Brown, who is our Geography teacher, is quite old.

Our car, which cost us a lot, keeps breaking down.

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NOTE

• Relative pronouns / adverbs cannot be omitted in non-defining relative clauses; nor can we us That instead of them.

• Prepositions usually appear at the beginning of non-defining relative clauses.

This cupboard, in which I keep my old toys, hasn`t been cleaned for ages.

• Which may also refer to a whole sentence.

He offered to give me a lift, which was very kind of him.