A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause that complements a noun.

They add more

information about an object or a person that has already been mentioned before. To
introduce relative clauses we use relative pronouns:
➔ Who: used to refer to people, can act as the subject or the object.
➔ Which: used to refer to objects or animals, can also act as the subject or the object.
➔ That: used to refer to people, objects or animals.
➔ Where: used to refer to places.
➔ When: used to refer to a particular time.
➔ Whose: used to show possession over something.
➔ Whom: used to refer to people, it can only act as the indirect object.
There are two types of relative clauses:
a) Defining:
- They add essential information.
- We can use that instead of who and which.
- If the relative pronoun is not the subject of its sentence, we can omit it.
- EX: I had a friend who/that got sent to jail.
b) Non-defining
- They add extra information.
- We use commas to separate them from the rest of the sentence.
- We can never omit the relative pronoun.
- EX: My friend, who is now in jail, used to make the funniest jokes.