Relative clauses

who, which, whose or that?

Relative clauses or relative clauses are those that act as subordinates to a main clause, adding more information
about a thing or a person that had already been mentioned before.

For example:

The cushions that are on the couch are purple and green.

In this case, the main clause would be “The cushions are purple and green” and the secondary or subordinate clause
“The cushions are on the couch”. To unite both we use the relative pronoun that, which refers to cushions.

1) Defining relative clause (specifying subordinate clause): NOTE: DO NOT USE COMMAS.

They provide essential and necessary information for us to understand what they are talking about:

She's the woman who helped me yesterday!

If we removed the relative clause (who helped me yesterday), we would not fully understand the sentence and
would want to know more: She's the woman!...???

2) Non-defining relative clauses (explanatory subordinate clauses): NOTE: THESE SENTENCES DO HAVE COMMAS.

They add additional information about the thing or person we are referring to, but it is not vital to understand the
situation:

The woman, who is my neighbor, helped me yesterday

In this case, the relative clause is dispensable, since without it the sentence would still make sense: The woman
helped me yesterday