RELATIVE CLAUSES

DEFINITION WITH EXAMPLES

JULY 25, 2020

GIIS, DUBAI
 Relative clauses
Meaning and use
Relative clauses are used to give additional information about a noun, such as a
person, place or thing. Relative pronouns introduce a relative clause. They
include who for people, that and which for things, when for time, and whose to show
possession.

Relative clauses belong to one of two categories: defining relative clauses and non-
defining relative clauses.

1. Defining relative clauses add essential information to a sentence.

The woman who found my wallet handed it in to reception.

The student whose dog has run away, has gone to look for it.

I remember the day when we first met.

These are the earrings that my mother gave me.

These clauses give essential information about the subject of the sentence. They
define the person, time or thing that we are talking about. If we remove the clause, the
sentence does not make sense.

2. Non-defining relative clauses add extra information to a noun or noun phrase.

My friend’s birthday, which was last weekend, was great fun.

My current girlfriend, who I love very much, calls me every night.

This extra information is not essential. If we remove the clause, the sentence still
makes sense.. This type of clause is more common in written English.

Form
Defining relative clauses are made with noun + relative pronoun + rest of clause.

A kangaroo is an animal which lives in Australia.

The man who came for lunch was my uncle.

Winter is a time when it sometimes snows.

Non-defining relative clauses are made in the same way. An important difference,
however, between both types of clause is the use of punctuation. With non-
defining relative clauses, we separate the clause with commas. We cannot use that in
this type of clause.
My favourite food, which used to be Italian, is now Japanese.

Rachel, who we met yesterday, lives in this neighbourhood.

My car, which I bought seven years ago, needs replacing.

This shirt, which I bought last weekend, cost £50.

My best friend, who I met at university, is coming for dinner.

Take note: replacing the relative pronoun

In informal communication, relative pronouns, such as who and when,are commonly
replaced with that in defining relative clauses.

The woman that called last night was very polite.

Do you remember the time that you first met?

Take note: leaving out the relative pronoun

When using defining relative clauses in informal speech and writing, the relative
pronoun can be left out completely if it refers to the object of the relative clause.

This is the shirt that I bought.

This is the shirt I bought.

The girl who I like isn’t here yet.

The girl I like isn’t here yet.

In non-defining relative clauses, the relative pronoun cannot be left out.

Take note: spoken English

The relative pronoun who is used when referring to people. However, in formal written
and spoken English, if the pronoun refers to the object of the clause, we
use whom instead.

My German teacher, whom I really admired, retired last year.

The woman whom I called this morning was my secretary.

Reduced relative clauses

A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause introduced by a relative pronoun.
 ● What is the name of that boy who just walked in?

Here the clause ‘who just walked in’ is an example of a relative clause. It modifies the noun boy. Relative
clauses are also called adjective clauses.

Relative clauses are sometimes shortened.

How to reduce a relative clause?

A participle can often be used instead of a relative pronoun and full verb.

Read the sentence given below.

The girl who sits next to Peter is my neighbor’s daughter.

Now when we shorten the relative clause ‘who sits next to Peter’, we get:

The girl sitting next to Peter is my neighbor’s daughter.

Another example is given below.

Who is the girl who is sitting next to your brother?

Now when we reduce the relative clause, we get:

Who is the girl sitting next to your brother?

More examples are given below.

A girl who works at a pub has won a lottery.

A girl working at a pub has won a lottery.

The lady who lives next door throws numerous parties.

The lady living next door throws numerous parties.

Yesterday I read a book which was written by Hemingway.

Yesterday I read a book written by Hemingway.

Quiz on relative pronouns: https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5bed3446e2c532001c6d8cd8

Relative clauses
What is a relative clause?
A relative clause is part of a sentence. It gives information about which person or thing
we are talking about.

Look at this example without a relative clause:

The flight was cancelled. We were going to take it.

We can make these two sentences into one by using a relative clause.

The flight that we were going to take was cancelled.

The relative clause tells us which flight was cancelled.

This type of relative clause defines the noun it is talking about. it is called a defining
relative clause.
Read the text and complete the activity

Another kind of relative clause

Let's look at a different example. First, without a relative clause.
Our flight was cancelled. It was one of several going to Rome that day.

Now let's look at that with a relative clause.

Our flight, which was one of several going to Rome that day, was cancelled.

Does the meaning of the sentence change if we leave out the relative clause?

Our flight was cancelled.

No, the meaning is the same.

Which flight are we talking about?

Our flight.

So, does the relative clause define which flight we are talking about?

No, it doesn't.

What is this kind of relative clause for?

It gives us more information, but that information is not essential to understanding what
we are talking about. It's called a non-defining relative clause.

Spotting a non-defining relative clause

In written English there is a comma at the beginning and end of a non-defining relative
clause.

Our flight, which was one of several going to Rome that day, was cancelled.

In spoken English there will be a slight pause before and after the non-defining relative
clause.

Relative pronouns
Let's look at the first example again.

The flight was cancelled. We were going to take it.

In the first sentence there is the pronoun it. In the sentence with the relative
clause, it has been replaced by a relative pronoun, that.

The flight that we were going to take was cancelled.

The position of the relative pronoun is after the noun to which it refers.

Subject or object pronoun?

When the relative pronoun refers to the object of the verb we can leave it out.

Let's look once again at the first example:

The flight was cancelled. We were going to take it.

The pronoun it refers to the flight. The flight is the object of the verb take. In the
sentence with the relative clause we can therefore leave out the relative pronoun.

The flight (that) we were going to take was cancelled.

There are different relative pronouns depending on whether we are talking about
people, things, places, possessions or times.

who / that are used for people:

The man who came to the door was collecting for charity.
The lady (that) I saw in the shop wasn't Julia Roberts after all.

whose is used for possessives:

The dog whose collar we found lives across the street.

The man whose wallet I found gave me a reward.

that / which are used for things:

I don't like films that are really scary.

I want to see something on the news which doesn't make me sad or angry.

where is used for places:

Do the you remember the place (where) we first met?

I want to go to a place where I've never been.

when is used for times

I can remember a time (when) there was no email or internet.

Do you think there'll be a day this summer (when) it doesn't rain?
To do

Do you think you can spot the difference between a defining and non-defining relative
clause? Try the quiz to find out.

https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5f1bf4b7390071001b560e66 - quizziz.com