Relative clauses

Relative pronouns used in relative clauses:

who – to refer to people

which – to refer to things and concepts

whom – to refer to people; used after a preposition

that – used in all cases, but only in defining relative clauses

when – to refer to time

where – to refer to place or situation

why – used often in the expression “the reason why” E.g. That’s (the reason) why I wanted to visit my
grandma.

- used only in defining relative clauses

whose – possessive of who, which

what - means “ the things which” ; only used in defining relative clauses

Defining relative clauses Non – defining relative clauses

I broke the mug [(which/that) I bought in
London].
- defines the object
- offers essential information
- is not separated from the main clause
by commas
- relative pronouns can be omitted
- we can replace relative pronouns with
“that”
The mug, [which I bought in London], was
dropped by my sister.
- offers additional, non-essential
information
- can be omitted from the main clause
- delimited by commas
- relative pronouns cannot be omitted
- cannot use “that”