Relative clauses are type of sentences which give additional information about a subject or

an object or provide information about time, place or reason something has happened. To form a
relative clause, we usually use one of the following:
 Relative pronouns: who, which, that, whom, whose or,
 Relative adverbs: when, where, why.

Each of the above has its own meaning, so we use them for:
 Who- people
 Which- things and animals
 That- people, things, animals
 Whom- people (object)
 When-time
 Where-place
 Why-reason

There are two types of relative clauses.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

DEFINING CLAUSES NON-DEFINING CLAUSES

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Defining relative clauses provide Non-defining relative clauses provide

additional information that is
necessary to complete the meaning
of a sentence. It gives detailed
information about something or
somebody. You never use commas in
defining relative clauses.
additional information that is not necessary
or important to the general meaning of a
sentence. You can write it or you can leave it
out, it doesn’t change the meaning. You
always use commas in non-defining relative
clauses and you mustn’t omit the pronoun.

There are some differences when using relative pronouns depending on which type of
relative clauses you are dealing with.
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Subject Object Possession Subject Object Possession

People who/ whom whose People who whom whose
that1 /who2 /who 1
/that 1 Things which which whose
Things which/ which whose
that1 /that1
Place where
Place where Time when
Time when That cannot replace who and which in a non-
Reason why defining relative clause.
1 That can replace who and which in a 1 Who can replace whom .Whom is more formal, while

defining relative clause without any change who is more common.

in meaning.
2 Who can replace whom .Whom is more

formal, while who is more common.

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 As seen above, who, which or that can be used to link a relative clause to a subject or an object.

 Who/ that: The man is my uncle. He works in the post office.

The man who/ that works in the post office is my uncle.
 Which/ that: The books are John’s. They are on the table.
The books which/ that are on the table are John’s.
 Whom/ who/ that: The girl was happy. We saw her at the party.
The girl whom/ who/ that/ - we saw at the party was happy.
Note: In this sentence you don’t have to use a relative pronoun since it isn’t a
subject of the relative clause. If it were a subject, then you should always use it! See the
first two sentences above!
 Whose: That is the girl. Her sister is a teacher.
That is the girl whose sister is a teacher.
 When: Was it 1999? You finished high school then.
Was it 1999 when you finished high school?
 Where: This is the school. I work there.
This is the school where I work.
 Why: The reason is valid. He said no.
The reason why/- he said no is valid.

Practice!

I Join the sentences using the appropriate relative pronoun or adverb.

1) The man lives in London. He gave you the book yesterday.
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2) Yes! I cried yesterday. I didn’t cry for that reason.
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3) The boy gave me the notes. His mother is a professor.
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4) The house is big and great. We bought it.
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5) That’s the hotel. We stayed there last year.
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6) They boy said hi. We saw him.
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7) The Yugoslav president Tito died on 4th May. Do you remember that day?
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8) I am a teacher in school. The school is in Sutomore, Montenegro.
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9) Donald Trump is married to a Slovenian lady. He is very rich.
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10) My phone is Huawei. It is brand new.
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 II Join the sentences and omit the pronoun where possible!
1) Ana is my sister. We met her at school.
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2) Where are the glasses? I left them on the table.
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3) I made a cake. You gave me the recipe for it.
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4) That’s the lady. I told you about her.
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5) My mum was at work. You saw her in Podgorica.
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III Put commas where and if necessary and determine the type of relative clause: defining or
non-defining:
1) Njegoš who was a famous Montenegrin poet wrote “The Mountain Wreath”.
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2) No, the lady who lives next door bought a brand new Porsche.
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3) Isaac Newton who was English was a well-known physicist.
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4) The Catcher in the Rye which is an American classic was the favourite Lee Harvey
Oswald.
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5) I was born in March when daffodils blossom.
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6) My colleague would love to visit Pemberley where Pride and Prejudice was filmed.
___________________________________________________________________________________

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 KEY:
I
1) The man who gave the book yesterday lives in London.
2) That’s not the reason why I cried yesterday.
3) The boy whose mother is a professor gave me the notes.
4) The house which we bought is big and great.
5) That’s the hotel where we stayed last year.
6) The boy who we saw said hi.
7) Do you remember the day when the Yugoslav president Tito died?
8) I am a teacher in school which is in Sutomore, Montenegro.
9) Donald Trump who is rich is married to a Slovenian lady.
10) My phone which is brand new is Huawei.

II
1) Ana whom/ who/ that we met at school is my sister.
2) Where are the glasses which/ that/ - I left on the table?
3) I made a cake which/ that/- you gave me recipe for.
4) That’s the lady whom/ who/ that/ - I told you about.
5) My mum whom/ who/ that you saw in Podgorica was at work.

III
1) Njegoš, who was a famous Montenegrin poet, wrote “The Mountain Wreath”. (non-defining;
word wrote already implies that he was a poet/writer)
2) No, the lady who lives next door bought a brand new Porsche. (defining; word no
emphasises which lady)
3) Isaac Newton, who was English, was a well-known physicist. (non-defining; it is known
that he was English)
4) The Catcher in the Rye ,which is an American classic, was the favourite Lee Harvey
Oswald.9non-defining; it is known that it is a classic)
5) I was born in March, when daffodils blossom. (non-defining; it is not important for the first
part of the sentences)
6) My colleague would love to visit Pemberley where Pride and Prejudice was filmed. (defining;
gives additional information which only people who read the book or watched the film
would know)

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