Relative Clauses
RELATIVE CLAUSES
Relative clauses give us more information about someone or
something.
Relative clauses start with a relative pronoun; who, whose,
whom, that, which, or a relative adverb; when, where and
why.
The boy who is there is my son.
This is the phone that I bought yesterday.
There are two types of relative clauses:
Defining relative clauses:
My brother who lives in London is a lawyer.
Non-defining relative clauses:
My brother, who lives in London, is a lawyer.
In both types the relative clause gives more information
about the person or thing we are talking about.
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
A defining relative clause gives us essential information to
understand what or who is being referred to.
A defining relative clause comes immediately after the noun
it describes.
The woman who lives next door is my best friend.
The computer that you gave me doesn’t work.
NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
A non-defining relative clause gives extra information
about something. We don’t need this information to
understand the sentence.
The relative clause is separated by commas.
My friend John, who married last year, has bought a
new car.
(who married last year) is extra information that we are
adding.
RELATIVE PRONOUNS AND ADVERBS
Both types of clauses begin with a relative pronoun or relative
adverb:
WHO (for people)
D: The boy who is there is my son.
N-D: My son, who is studying biology, lives in London.
WHICH (for things)
D: She works for a company which is in the centre of London.
N-D: The company she works for, which is in the centre of London,
is very important.
WHOSE (to indicate possession)
D: I met a woman whose husband is a doctor.
N-D: The woman I met, whose husband is a doctor, has got a
lovely dog.
WHERE (relative adverb - for places)
D: This is the beach where we went to yesterday.
N-D: We went to a beautiful beach, where we swam for
hours.
WHEN (relative adverb - for time)
D: Do you remember the day when we got lost?
N-D: At night, when people go home, the streets are empty.
WHOM (for people as the object of the clause – very formal)
D: The boy whom we met yesterday is very nice.
N-D: Yesterday I saw my sister, whom I hadn’t seen for a long
time.
WHY (relative adverb - to give “the reason”)
It can only be used in “defining relative clauses.”
This is the reason why I didn’t come yesterday.
Tell me the reason why you are upset.
THAT (for people and things - used instead of who / whom /
which)
It can only used in “defining-relative clauses.”
The man who / that came yesterday is my brother.
The coat which / that you want to buy is really nice.
The person whom / that you want to invite is a friend of
mine.
OMISSION OF THE RELATIVE PRONOUN
It can ONLY be omitted in defining relative clauses.
WHICH – THAT – WHO – WHOM can be omitted when
they are the object of the relative clause.
The car (which / that) we bought last year is the best one
we have ever had.
The book (which / that) she read last week is amazing.
The girl (who / whom / that) he is talking to is my sister.
If there is a verb immediately after the relative pronoun,
you can never omit the pronoun.
The woman that gave me the present is my mother.
If there’s no verb after the relative pronoun and there is a
subject instead, then you can omit it.
The book that she read last week is amazing.
