Relative clauses

Relative pronouns
• connect a relative clause to a main clause
• who, whom: refer to people
• which, that: refer to animals and things
(sometimes also who)
whom – very unusual, esp. in in informal English, generally
ommited or replaced with who, placed after a
preposition
• whose: possessive, for people or things
• where: after nouns referring to place
• when: after nouns referirng to time
• why: after the word reason

where / when can often replace in / on / at which: I think that´s the church where / in
which my grandparents were married.
 Defining relative clauses
- give us the necessary information to know which person or thing is
referred to.
I did the work (that/which) he asked me to do.
- in this type of clause there is no comma
- often used in definitions
- who is used for people
- that or which can be used in these clauses

BUT the pronoun can be omitted if it is an object:

The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is John´s nephew.

EXAMPLES:
We know a lot of people who live in London.
The house where we live is very old.
Peter works for a company that / which makes furniture.
A seaman is someone who works on a ship.
Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?
 Non-defining clauses
- give us additional, extra information about the person or thing, but do not
define it
- we use commas
- that can´t be used !!!!
- object pronouns must be used and can´t be left out
We stayed at the Park Hotel, which is the best hotel in the town.

EXAMPLES:
Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is John´s nephew.
Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?
My brother Jim, who is a doctor, is getting married next month.
Jake, who lives next door to Melanie, is rather strange.
The Grand Canyon, which is over 200 miles long, is one of the wonders of the
world.
I have three brothers.
-My brother who lives in Sydney came to see me last month.
-My brother, who lives in Sydney, came to see me last month.
I have one sister.
-My sister who is 25 years old spent her holiday in France.
-My sister, who is 25 years old, spent her holiday in France.
Bob´s mum has lost her keys.
-Bob´s mum who is a musician has lost her car keys.
-Bob´s mum, who is a musician, has lost her car keys.
My friend Jane moved to Canada.
-My friend Jane whose husband is Canadian moved to Canada last week.
-My friedn Jane, whose husband is Canadian, moved to Canada last week.
I am a shoe fanatic.
- The shoes which I bought yesterday are very comfortable.
-The shoes, which I bought yesterday, are very comfortable.
Mr Robinson is very famous.
-Mr Robinson whom I met at the trade fair is a famous inventor.
-Mr Robinson, whom I met at the trade fair, is a famous inventor.
Tamara has two cats. Both of them are black.
-Tamara´s two cats which can play outside are black.
-Tamara´s two cats, which can play outside, are black.
Kevin has four cats. Two of them are black.
-Kevin´s two cats which are black can play outside.
-Kevin´s two cats, which are black, can play outside.
We are on holiday. Yesterday we visited a church.
-The church which we visited yesterday is very old.
-The church, which we visited yesterday, is very old.
We are on holiday. Yesterday we visited a church.
-St. Mary´s Church which we visited yesterday is very old.
-St. Mary´s Church, which we visited yesterday, is very old.