Relative clauses

Relative pronouns• connect a relative clause to a main clause• who, whom: refer to people• which, that: refer to animals and things (sometimes also who) whom – very unusual, esp. in in informal English, generally

ommited or replaced with who, placed after a preposition

• whose: possessive, for people or things• where: after nouns referring to place• when: after nouns referirng to time• why: after the word reason

where / when can often replace in / on / at which: I think that´s the church where / in which my grandparents were married.

Defining relative clauses- give us the necessary information to know which person or thing is

referred to. I did the work (that/which) he asked me to do.- in this type of clause there is no comma- often used in definitions- who is used for people- that or which can be used in these clauses

BUT the pronoun can be omitted if it is an object: The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is John´s nephew.

EXAMPLES:We know a lot of people who live in London.The house where we live is very old.Peter works for a company that / which makes furniture.A seaman is someone who works on a ship.Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Non-defining clauses- give us additional, extra information about the person or thing, but do not

define it- we use commas- that can´t be used !!!!- object pronouns must be used and can´t be left out We stayed at the Park Hotel, which is the best hotel in the town.

EXAMPLES:Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is John´s nephew.Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?My brother Jim, who is a doctor, is getting married next month.Jake, who lives next door to Melanie, is rather strange.The Grand Canyon, which is over 200 miles long, is one of the wonders of the

world.

I have three brothers.-My brother who lives in Sydney came to see me last month.-My brother, who lives in Sydney, came to see me last month.I have one sister.-My sister who is 25 years old spent her holiday in France.-My sister, who is 25 years old, spent her holiday in France.Bob´s mum has lost her keys.-Bob´s mum who is a musician has lost her car keys.-Bob´s mum, who is a musician, has lost her car keys.My friend Jane moved to Canada.-My friend Jane whose husband is Canadian moved to Canada last week.-My friedn Jane, whose husband is Canadian, moved to Canada last week.I am a shoe fanatic.- The shoes which I bought yesterday are very comfortable.-The shoes, which I bought yesterday, are very comfortable.Mr Robinson is very famous.-Mr Robinson whom I met at the trade fair is a famous inventor.-Mr Robinson, whom I met at the trade fair, is a famous inventor.Tamara has two cats. Both of them are black.-Tamara´s two cats which can play outside are black.-Tamara´s two cats, which can play outside, are black.Kevin has four cats. Two of them are black.-Kevin´s two cats which are black can play outside.-Kevin´s two cats, which are black, can play outside.We are on holiday. Yesterday we visited a church.-The church which we visited yesterday is very old.-The church, which we visited yesterday, is very old.We are on holiday. Yesterday we visited a church.-St. Mary´s Church which we visited yesterday is very old.-St. Mary´s Church, which we visited yesterday, is very old.