Student´s name:__________________________

Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

Grammar Notes: Relative Clauses

Introduction
Here is a brief review of adjective clauses and relative pronouns.

An adjective clause is used to describe a noun:

The car, which was red, belonged to Young-Hee.

A relative pronoun is usually used to introduce an adjective

clause:
Young-Hee, who is a Korean student, lives in Victoria.

The main relative pronouns are:

Who: used for humans:

Hans, who is an architect, lives in Berlin.

Which: used for things and animals:

Marike has a dog which follows her everywhere.

That: used for humans, animals and things (but see below):
Marike is decorating a house that Hans designed.

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 1/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

There are two main kinds of adjective clause:

Non-defining clauses: give extra information about the

noun, but they are not essential:
The desk in the corner, which is covered in books, is
mine.
(We don't need this information in order to understand the sentence. "The desk in the
corner is mine" is a good sentence on its own -- we still know which desk is referred to.
Note that non-defining clauses are usually separated by commas, and that is not usually
used in this kind of context.)

Defining clauses: give essential information about the

noun:
The package that arrived this morning is on the desk.
(We need this information in order to understand the sentence. Without the relative clause,
we don't know which package is being referred to. Note that that is often used in non-
defining relative clauses, and they are not separated by commas.)

Adjective Clauses
An adjective clause is a dependent clause which takes the place of an adjective in another clause or
phrase. Like an adjective, an adjective clause modifies a noun or pronoun, answering questions like
"which?" or "what kind of?" Consider the following examples:
Adjective
the red coat
Adjective clause
the coat which I bought yesterday
Like the word "red" in the first example, the dependent clause "which I bought yesterday" in the
second example modifies the noun "coat." Note that an adjective clause usually comes after what it
modifies, while an adjective usually comes before.
In formal writing, an adjective clause begins with the relative pronouns "who(m)," "that," or
"which." In informal writing or speech, you may leave out the relative pronoun when it is not the

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 2/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

subject of the adjective clause, but you should usually include the relative pronoun in formal,
academic writing:
informal
The books people read were mainly religious.
formal
The books that people read were mainly religious.
informal
Some firefighters never meet the people they save.
formal
Some firefighters never meet the people whom they save.
Here are some more examples of adjective clauses:
the meat which they ate was tainted
This clause modifies the noun "meat" and answers the question "which meat?".
about the movie which made him cry
This clause modifies the noun "movie" and answers the question "which movie?".
they are searching for the one who borrowed the book
The clause modifies the pronoun "one" and answers the question "which one?".
Did I tell you about the author whom I met?
The clause modifies the noun "author" and answers the question "which author?".

You can use a relative pronoun to link one phrase or clause to another phrase or
clause. The relative pronouns are "who," "whom," "that," and "which."

Grammar Exercise: Adjective Clauses

Combine the two sentences to make one, using an adjective clause. For example,
"I met Mary in the hall. She is a tour guide." becomes "I met Mary, who is a tour
guide, in the hall."
1. The man was sick. He looked very pale.
Correct answer(s):
The man, who looked very pale, was sick.
The man, who was sick, looked very pale.
The man who looked very pale was sick.
The man who was sick looked very pale.
2. He was sitting in the emergency room. It was very crowded.

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 3/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

Correct answer(s):
He was sitting in the emergency room, which was very crowded.
3. A nurse was nearby. He called her.
Correct answer(s):
He called a nurse, who was nearby.
He called a nurse who was nearby.
A nurse, whom he called, was nearby.
A nurse whom he called was nearby.
4. The nurse called a doctor. He came quickly.

Correct answer(s):
The nurse called a doctor, who came quickly.
The nurse called a doctor who came quickly.
5. The doctor asked him to lie down. She looked very worried.

Correct answer(s):
The doctor, who looked very worried, asked him to lie down.

6. She gave the man an injection. It made him go to sleep.

Correct answer(s):
She gave the man an injection, which made him go to sleep.
She gave the man an injection which made him go to sleep.
She gave the man an injection that made him go to sleep.
7. The Olympic snowboarding event was exciting. Many people watched it on TV.
Correct answers:
The Olympic snowboarding event, which many people watched on TV, was exciting.
The Olympic snowboarding event that many people watched on TV was exciting.
8. It was the first time snowboarding had been included in the Olympics.
Snowboarding is a new sport.
Correct answers:
It was the first time snowboarding, which is a new sport, had been included in the
Olympics.
9. The competition was very exciting. A Canadian won it.

Correct answers:
The competition, which a Canadian won, was very exciting.
10. The winner, Ross Rebagliati, lives in Whistler, BC. Many young snowboarders
admire him.

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 4/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

Correct answers:
The winner, Ross Rebagliati, whom many young snowboarders admire, lives in Whistler,
BC.
The winner, Ross Rebagliati, who many young snowboarders admire, lives in Whistler, BC.
The winner, Ross Rebagliati, whom many young snowboarders admire, lives in Whistler,
B.C.
The winner, Ross Rebagliati, who many young snowboarders admire, lives in Whistler,
B.C.

Adjective Clauses: Multiple Choice Exercise

Using Relative Pronouns
In each sentence, choose the correct relative pronoun to introduce the clause.

1 The cougar is a member of the cat family ______ grows to around 8 feet in length.

who

which

whom

that

2 The cougar lives in deserts, forests, plains and mountains, but according to scientists
________ have studied the animal, it is becoming endangered in some areas.

who

which

whom

whose

3 The cougar has powerful legs, ________ it uses to climb and to jump into trees.

who

which

whom

whose

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 5/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

4 Cougars sometimes prey on sheep and goats, so they may be killed by the farmers
________ animals they attack.

who

which

whom

whose

5 However, cougars very rarely attack humans, of ________ they are usually afraid.

who

whom

which

that

How to Form Relative Clauses

Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows
her. You could say:

A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?

That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both
pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing – you want to know
who the girl is.

Do you know the girl …

As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional
information – the girl is talking to Tom. Use “the girl” only in the first part of the sentence, in the
second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun “who”). So
the final sentence is:

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 6/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

Relative Pronouns

relative
use Example
pronoun

who subject or object pronoun for people I told you about the woman who lives
next door.

which subject or object pronoun for animals and things Do you see the cat which is lying on
the roof?

which referring to a whole sentence He couldn’t read which surprised me.

whose possession for people animals and things Do you know the boy whose mother
is a nurse?

whom object pronoun for people, especially in non-I was invited by the professor whom I
defining relative clauses (in defining relativemet at the conference.
clauses we colloquially prefer who)

that subject or object pronoun for people, animalsI don’t like the table that stands in the
and things in defining relative clauses (who orkitchen.
which are also possible)

Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun?

Subject and object pronouns cannot be distinguished by their forms - who, which, that are used
for subject and object pronouns. You can, however, distinguish them as follows:

If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun. Subject
pronouns must always be used.

the apple which is lying on the table

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 7/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is
an object pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining relative clauses, which are then
called Contact Clauses.

the apple (which) George lay on the table

Relative Adverbs

A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the
sentence easier to understand.

This is the shop in which I bought my bike.

→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.

relative
meaning use Example
adverb

when in/on which refers to a time expression the day when we met him

where in/at which refers to a place the place where we met him

why for which refers to a reason the reason why we met him

Defining Relative Clauses

Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive relative clauses)
give detailed information defining a general term or expression. Defining relative clauses are not
put in commas.

Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you ask somebody whether
he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 8/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Defining relative clauses are often used in definitions.

A seaman is someone who works on a ship.

Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a relative clause
without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)

The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.

Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Non-defining relative clauses (also called non-identifying relative clauses or non-restrictive

relative clauses) give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining
relative clauses are put in commas.

Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask
somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this
situation it is obvious which girl you mean.

Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?

Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.

Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.

Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.

How to Shorten Relative Clauses?

Relative clauses with who, which, that as subject pronoun can be replaced with a participle. This
makes the sentence shorter and easier to understand.

I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the woman living next door.

Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on the roof?

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 9/10

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

Exercise on Relative Clauses (Contact clauses)

Relative Pronouns (who / which / whose)
Choose the correct relative pronoun (who, which, whose).
1. This is the bank was robbed yesterday.
2. A boy sister is in my class was in the bank at that time.
3. The man robbed the bank had two pistols.
4. He wore a mask made him look like Mickey Mouse.
5. He came with a friend waited outside in the car.
6. The woman gave him the money was young.
7. The bag contained the money was yellow.
8. The people were in the bank were very frightened.
9. A man mobile was ringing did not know what to do.
10. A woman daughter was crying tried to calm her.
11. The car the bank robbers escaped in was orange.
12. The robber mask was obviously too big didn't drive.
13. The man drove the car was nervous.
14. He didn't wait at the traffic lights were red.
15. A police officer car was parked at the next corner stopped and arrested them.
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses

Grammar Notes Relative Clauses pag. 10/10