Defining relative clauses A relative clause is a part of a sentence that gives more information about the subject. A defining, or restrictive, relative clause identifies the subject being talked about. See also efning relative clauses 82 relative structures 83 DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES. Defining relative clauses, also known as restrictive relative clauses, are Used to describe exactly which person or thing the speaker is referring to. Without this information, the meaning of the sentence changes. Here the MAIN CLAUSE DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE defining clause gives essential information She invited lots of friends who brought gifts. « f fi about people. Here the defining clause gives essential — 2 ke toate tite I'm looking for a job that I'll enjoy. Wit! MAIN CLAUSE DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE The defining DEFINING RELATIVE MAIN CLAUSE clause can MAIN CLAUSE CLAUSE ‘CONTINUED also go in the middle of the i] mainciuse. — The job that | heard about is interesting. d FURTHER EXAMPLES “That ean also be wed fr people : Ineed a television that works! *. | He's the actor that we saw last week. R Do you know anyone who The book that | just read Yj lean hater ea fica Wika OR is excellent. i: 226By RELATIVE PRONOUNS English uses different MA ce eer ok AXiky sasT&e PEOPLE THINGS who & “a that © “a which SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS IN DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES Relative clauses ae tradei ots MAIN CLAUSE an an CLAUSE subject, a verb, and A usually an object They usually start I'm writing about people Co comviaime commit crimes. with a relative pronoun, which can be the subject ‘or the object of the relative clause "Who" isthe subject of commit MAIN CLAUSE RELATIVE CLAUSE (a ae, | saw the car which the criminal stole. = Gi “unite cbjetr‘ale? N stn cima ste subject ate 4 i} HOW TO FORM Ifthe relative pronoun SUBJECT OF Fae is the subject of the relative clause, it must appear in the sentence. 4 is very dangerous. Ifthe relative pronoun is the object of the relative clause, it can be left out. "Whom" is sometimes used when > specnshestes, | The weapon but this is very formal. RETURN TO MAIN CLAUSE you saw in the car is very dangerous. 22782 Non-defining relative clauses Like defining relative clauses, non-defining relative clauses add is extra information about something. However, this simply gives Quanity 75 extra detail, rather than changing the sentence’s meaning. eine ate EES 3 NO! EFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES In non-defining relative clauses, also known as non-restrictive relative clauses, “who” is used to refer to people. “Whom” can be used if the person is the object of the relative clause, but this is very formal s MAIN CLAUSE NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE ee We spoke to Linda, who had recently been mugged. il I "Who" refers to a person “Which” is used to refer to anything that is not a person. “That” is sometimes used instead of "which," but this is often considered wrong in non-defining relative clauses, RETURN TO MAIN CLAUSE NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE MAIN CLAUSE Her necklace, which she'd just bought, was stolen. "Whe refers oa thing. FURTHER EXAMPLES “Whom’ is only used in very forma situations. Jay, who | used tolve with, came JB’ — The suspect, whomuwe had been to stay with us for a few days. following, was arrested. All the burglars were arrested, iit Our new house, which is E 48 which was a great relief. by the beach, is beautiful. > Te rete pronoun ean eer Tote enre previous dase 228HOW TO FORM Non-defining relative clauses can come in the middle of a sentence, or at the end, Ifthe relative clause comes in the middle, commas must go either side of it. Ifit comes after the whole main clause, a comma must go at the end of the main clause. MAIN CLAUSE L We spoke to Pr i Pe who had recently been mugged. ‘ ‘ ‘Acoma must go before the The non-defining lative clause rnon-defining relative clause. comes atthe end ofthe sentence comma, REST OF MAIN CLAUSE Her necklace ; Pr which she'd just bought 4 4 CConmas go before and ater ‘The non-defning relative clause comes the non-defining relative clause between the subject and the main ver QUANTIFIERS WITH NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES. Inv non-defining relative clauses, quantifiers can be used to say how many people or things the relative clause refers to. In these structures, "who" becomes ‘of whom," and “which” becomes “of which” QUANTIFIER + OF + WHOM | teach many students, all of whom are very talented. QUANTIFIER + OF + WHICH | teach many classes, some of which are very difficult. a eee FURTHER EXAMPLES My brother and sister, both of whom live Ihave four essays due next week, in Ireland, are coming to visit. none of which are ready. e ‘Tommy has three pets, two of which are cats. fatwa Lots of people, many of whom are famous, will be at the event. 229Other relative structures Relative words introduce phrases that describe a noun is in the main part of the sentence. Different relative Singur and plural nouns 68 words are used to refer to different types of nouns. ssi) ‘WHERI “Where” is the relative word used to refer to a place. That is the place where the judge sits. [The judge “When is the He is looking forward to the day relative word used 4 . ee when he'll be released from prison. [He's looking forward to the day 0 ts there his release “Whereby" is the relative word Atrial is the process whereby a person eo 2 toa process. [To be found guilty, you must go through a trial used to refer is found guilty or innocent of a crime. Tint FB FURTHER EXAMPLES This is the house where foes) Dean is out at the moment. at Shakespeare was born. I'm not sure where he is. I remember the day Next month is when the i? when you were born. new students are starting. « They have an agreement whereby There's a new system whereby they share the company's profits. students submit their work online. van 230“WHOSE” “Whose” is the se f relative word used This is the lawyer whose to show possession client lied in court. or belonging. This lawyer's client lied in court] FURTHER EXAMPLES. The UK is an example of a country Smith & Smith, whose success rate whose traffic laws are very strict. is very high, is a respected law firm. i "WHAT" FURTHER EXAMPLES been spending all my time on. but I'm excited to open it! “What” isthe relative word used to mean i a . “hethingwhic or PMS house is just what we were looking for. “the things which” [This house is the thing w e were looking for] 4 ° I don’t know what itis, i These paintings are what I've ee 4 Ifa relative structure uses ‘a question word such as “where” or ‘what’ the word Beret , order in the clause following This is just what we were looking for. @ this word should be left as normal and should not be This is just what were we looking for. € formed like a question This is corect. Do nt invert the subject and ver, 231