A- Les propositions relatives (Relative clauses)

They give extra information about a noun in the main clause; referring to it as subject or object.

- That is the man who sold his computer.

- That is the car that I used to drive

You do not repeat a name , as the name is the subject.

- This is XY. He played chess with me last week. XY is the person who played chess with me last
week.
- This is their house. I used to rent it. This is the house (that)I used to rent.

B- Defining and non-defining clauses ( Propositions (non)- determinants

Defining clauses give important information which tells us exactly what is being referred to.

- The meal which you cooked for us was really delicious.

Non-defining clauses add extra-information, separated by commas in writing and intonation in

speaking.

- The meal, which we had, was the best ever.

C- Omitting the relative pronoun

1- Object clauses ( Completive)

The relative pronoun can be left out in object clauses in both speaking and writing, provided these
are defining.

- That’s the house I used to rent.

2- Non-defining clauses

The relative pronoun cannot be left out in a non-defining clause.

D- Which, who, and that

1- That instead of which

That is often used instead of which in speech.

- Is this the house that you used to rent?

2- That instead of who

That can also refer to people in everyday speech

- Have you ever the girl that he is dating?

3- Which in non-defining clauses

That cannot be used to introduce a non-defining clause.
- The film, which is a thriller, was exciting.
 E- Prepositions

That cannot be used after a preposition

- This is the house (that/which) I used to rent. (Everyday speech)

- This is the house for which I paid a rent.

F- Whose and whom

1- Whose means of whom, and usually refers to people

- This is XY. Her sister will be visiting us next week.This is XY, whose sister will be staying with us
next week.

2- Whom is the object form of who , and has to be used after prepositions.

- This is the person, I sold my computer to. This is the person to whom I sold my computer.