Relative Clauses &

Relative Pronouns
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
 RELATIVE CLAUSES: USE

 dependent clauses
 give additional information about something without starting another sentence
 by combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you
can avoid repeating certain words

Example:
I like working with students who want to learn something.
I downloaded a new film which is really interesting.
 RELATIVE PRONOUNS

 introduce relative clauses

 relative clause tells us which person / thing the speaker means / refers to

 WHO (subject) PEOPLE

 WHOM (object)
 WHICH THINGS
 WHOSE (posession)
 THAT --------→ instead of WHO, WHOM, WHICH
 WHERE
 WHEN RELATIVE ADVERBS
 WHY: the reason why
 Example:

The students are smart.

They are learning relative clause.

The students who are learning relative are smart.

clauses
‘who’ is used instead of ‘they’
 Remember:

 the pronoun refers to the same thing as the relative

pronoun

e.g. The girl is my sister. You saw her yesterday.

A: The girl whom you saw her yesterday is my sister.

→ The girl whom you saw yesterday is my sister.

 Relative adverbs
WHY: THE REASON WHY

I didn’t get a pay rise – that was the reason why I left.

I didn’t get a pay rise – that was the reason (that) I left.

WHERE

The street where we used to play as kids is very busy now.

WHEN

He will never forget the day when he started working in that company.
 TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES
 Defining relative clauses give important information to identify the person or
thing we are talking about.→ We don’t use a comma.

 The office equipment (which / that) we bought was very expensive.

 The student (who/ that) I saw yesterday is from Spain.

 Non-defining relative clauses give additional information about the person or

thing we are talking about. → We use a comma.

 Mr Jones, who is the CEO of the company, will retire soon.

 The Smiths, who live next door, have bought a new car.
 RELATIVE CLAUSES

 DEFINING  NON-DEFINING
RELATIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES
CLAUSES  WHO
 WHO  WHOM
 WHOM  WHICH
 WHICH  WHEN, WHERE
 THAT
 WHEN, WHERE

DEFINING vs. NON-DEFINING CLAUSE

S SHORT
 DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

SUBJEC - The person who phoned me last "that" is preferable

T night is my teacher.
- The person that phoned me last
night is my teacher.

- The car which hit me was yellow. "that" is preferable

- The car that hit me was yellow.
 DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

OBJECT - The person whom I phoned last night is my "whom" is correct but

teacher. formal
- The people who I phoned last night are my
teachers. relative pronoun is
- The person that I phoned last night is my optional
teacher.
- The person I phoned last night is my teacher.

- The car which I drive is old. "that" is preferable to

- The car that I drive is old. "which"
- The car I drive is old.
relative pronoun is
optional
 DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
- The student whose phone  
POSSESSIV
E just rang should stand up.
- Students whose parents are
wealthy pay extra.

- The police are looking for "whose" can be used

the car whose driver was with things
masked.
- The police are looking for "of which" is also
the car of which the driver possible
was masked.
NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE

- Mrs Pratt, who is very kind, is my  

SUBJECT teacher.
- The car, which was a taxi, exploded.  
- The cars, which were taxis, exploded.

OBJECT - Mrs Pratt, whom I like very much, is "whom" is correct but

my teacher. formal
- Mrs Pratt, who I like very much, is my
teacher. "who" is common in
spoken English and
informal written English
- The car, which I was driving at the  
time, suddenly caught fire.
 NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE

POSSESSIV - My brother, whose phone you  

E just heard, is a doctor.

- The car, whose driver jumped "whose" can be used

out just before the accident, was with things
completely destroyed.
- The car, the driver of "of which" is also
which jumped out just before possible
the accident, was completely
destroyed.
 PREPOSITIONS + RELATIVE
CLAUSES
FORMAL STYLE:
we usually put a preposition before the relative pronoun

The office to which Graham took us was filled with books.

LESS FORMAL STYLE:

we usually put the preposition at the end of the relative clause

The office that Graham took us to was filled with books

More examples:

That’s the car for which I paid $2,000. (more formal)

That’s the car which / that I paid $2,000 for. (more usual)

That’s the car I paid $2,000 for. (everyday English)

Any question?