Relative Clauses

Defining Non-defining
(Relevant information) (Extra information)

People who/that who

Things which/that which

Place(s) where where

Time when when

Possession whose whose

Umbelina Barros Lima (grupo 330) Escola Secundária D. Afonso Sanches

 You decide! 
Mary, who is a friend of mine, has just left. Non-defining
The boy who has thrown the ball is running Defining
away.
The man whose dog is black lives next door. Defining
Where’s the girl that sells the tickets? Defining
Danny’s house, which is lovely, has been recently Non-defining
painted.
My uncle, who was born in Angola, has dual Non-defining
nationality.

Umbelina Barros Lima (grupo 330)

Escola Secundária D. Afonso Sanches
 And remember…

• Defining relative clauses give information

that is essential

• Non-defining relative clauses give extra

information and come between commas or
after a comma and a full stop.

Umbelina Barros Lima (grupo 330) Escola Secundária D. Afonso Sanches

Now reorder the sentences!
• have been caught. The men my car who stole
The men who stole my car have been caught.

• drug Penicillin saves is lives. a that

Peniccilin is a drug that saves lives.

• I went whose the woman party to. That’s

That’s the woman whose party I went to.

Umbelina Barros Lima (grupo 330) Escola Secundária D. Afonso Sanches

• where happens. It’s a town not much
It’s a town where not much happens.

• when went wrong. a day It was everything

It was a day when everything went wrong.

• who lives by the gun dies by the gun. He

He who lives by the gun dies by the gun.

Umbelina Barros Lima (grupo 330)

Escola Secundária D. Afonso Sanches
• Was it you who said “easy as pie”?

Umbelina Barros Lima (grupo 330) Escola Secundária D. Afonso Sanches