DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES ( NECESSARY INFO)
- Add details about a specific noun that precedes.
- It is essential in a sentence because we need it in order to
know who or what someone is describing.
For example;
I have a blue bike → I have a bike which/that is blue
→relative clause←
“The woman who lives next door works in a bank.”
“These are the flights that have been cancelled.”
‘They live in a house whose roof is full of holes.’
‘Let's go to a country where the sun always shines.
Without the additional clause, the sentence would not
retain the same meaning.’
- WHICH/ WHO/ WHEN = can be replaced by ‘THAT’.
- RELATIVE PRONOUNS can be omitted:
We can omit WHICH/ WHO / WHEN/ THAT/ when they are
followed by SUBJECT+VERB.
That is the exam (which/ that) I did yesterday.
She is the woman (who/that) you met two days ago.
NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES (EXTRA INFO).
- They always go between commas.
- They tell you extra INFO about the noun, they’re not
necessary to the meaning of the sentence,.
For example;
“The house, which (NOT that) was built in 1883, has just been opened to
the public”.
“My friend John, who (NOT that) went to the same school as me, has just
written a best-selling novel”.
“My grandfather, who is 87, goes swimming every day.·
“My next-door neighbour, whose children go to school with ours, has just
bought a new car.”
“City Park, which/where we used to go to, has been closed down”.
“December, when Christmas is celebrated, is a summer month for the
southern hemisphere”.
- ‘THAT’ cannot be used.
- RELATIVE PRONOUNS cannot be omitted or
replaced by ‘that’.