Grammar

Unit 10
Intermediate Level 3
Defining relative clauses

Form

He is the man who (that) invented the World Wide Web.

This is the system which (that) I told you about.

That is the place where we buy our computers.

The relative pronouns who, which, whose, where, when and that introduce defining
relative clauses.

Relative Gives Example sentence

pronoun information
about
who people He's the doctor who treated all
those children.
That’s the doctor who carries out
the transplants.
He’s the man who did the first
bungee jump.
which things That's the jeep which can cross
the desert easily.

Cosmetic surgery is a process

which can help people following
serious accidents.
where places This is the beach where they do
extreme surfing.

1
 St Bart’s hospital is the hospital
where you go for first aid training.
whose possessions She's the runner whose leg was
broken in three places.

That’s the surgeon whose

procedure is now followed in every
hospital in. the country.
when time This weekend is when the
marathon takes place.

1992 is the year when Dr Alvarez

carried out the first operation.
that people There's the man that ran 1,000
kilometres last week.

The person that discovered the

solution was from China.

Do you know about the operation

that replaces a damaged hip?
.
things These are the shoes that he wore
to run 1,000 kilometres.

The factory that produces the

machine employs over 200 people

Use
We use defining relative clauses to give us essential information about a person, thing,
place, possession or time.

2
  That’s the doctor. He carries out the transplants.

 Cosmetic surgery is a process. It can help people following serious accidents.

 St Bart's hospital is the hospital. you go to the hospital for first aid training.

 That's the surgeon. The procedure of this surgeon is now followed in every hospital in the
country.

 1992 is the year. Dr. Alvarez carried out the first operation in that year.

* We can use that for people or things instead of who or which. This is less formal.
 The person that discovered the solution was from China.
 The factory that produces the machine employs over 200 people.

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*We always use who, which and that when it is:
the subject of the defining relative clause (i.e. when it is followed by the verb).
He's the man. He did the bungee jump.

Do you know about the operation? The operation that replaces a damaged hip?

*We can leave out who, which and that when they are the object of the relative clause (i.e.
when they are followed by a noun or a pronoun).

He's the man (who) John met in New Zealand.

That's the operation (that) she had last year.

1-Write sentences using who, which, where, whose and when. In which
sentences can you use that? In which sentence can you leave out the relative
pronoun?

1- This is the machine / it makes new body parts

There's the man / he flew round the world in a balloon

That's the cave / four explorers slept there

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She's the girl / her arm was operated on

It's the time of day / tire patient helpline is busiest

Here is the boat / they crossed the Atlantic in this is the woman / she climbed Everest

We saw the device / it treats headaches

This is the woman/ she climbed Everest.

2-Make one sentence by changing the sentences in italics into a

defining relative clause. The relative pronoun can be the subject or the object

of the relative clause.

1-The mother cooked the pasta. I bought pasta yesterday.

2-The laptop I left in my car. The laptop was stolen.

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3-The USB drive is in my backpack. My USB drive has hundreds of songs.

4-Jasmine stole my sandwich. My sandwich had chicken tenders and tomatoes

slices inside.

5-Lilly is a dentist. She immigrated to Australia last year.

6-The police found the burglar. He burgled a bank on our street.

7-The worker fell ill with COVID-19. He works in a cotton factory.

8- My father lives near the sea. He loves sailing.

9-Peter is a friend of mine. He spends his holidays in the mountains.

10-Jorge Amado is a famous writer. He lives in Brazil.

11- This is my town. I spent my childhood in this town.

12- London is the city. we went on holidays in London.