Relative Clauses

They have an adjectival

function. That means they modify nouns

Defining Relative Clauses Non-defining Relative Clauses

They are between commas

They introduce ESSENTIAL information They introduce ADDITIONAL information

They are necessary to the define the antecedent If eliminated, the sentence is still clear
The pronoun “that” can be used to replace who or which The pronoun “That” is NOT POSSIBLE

Relative clauses are introduced by RELATIVE WORDS:

● RELATIVE PRONOUN: Who, Whom, Which, That

● RELATIVE ADJECTIVE: Whose
● RELATIVE ADVERB: Where, When,

Examples of DEFINING Rel. Clauses

antecedent

1- The man who works in the supermarket lives round the corner. (“that” can also be used)

2- I interviewed the girl (who) I had met the previous week. (who/that are optional)

antecedent

3- Mary visited the town where she was born.

antecedent

4- Sam helped the employee whose wife was in hospital.

antecedent

5- The city which has the highest level of pollution is Mexico.

 antecedent

6- The moment (when) she arrived I understood the situation. (“when” is optional, can be omitted)

antecedent

Examples of NON-Defining Rel. Clauses

They are between commas or a comma and another punctuation mark.

1- My mother, who lives in London, is visiting her children here.

2- Jenny is travelling to London, where she has many friends.

3- Theresa left her job, which demanded many hours, and started a new business.

4- In the office, John is replacing Theresa, whose duties are more urgent now.

5- I met Tom, to whom you had given the money.

Remember that in NON-DEFINING Relative Clauses, the pronoun THAT is not possible