Relative Clauses

Non-Defining
Defining
Reduced Relative Clauses
What is a RELATIVE CLAUSE?
Subject and Object

 That is the woman who bought my car.

SUBJECT
 That is the house that I was looking for.
OBJECT
A relative clause gives extra information
about a noun in the main clause. The
relative clause can use the noun as a
subject or object.
What is a RELATIVE CLAUSE?
Combining Sentences

SUBJECT:
This is Sofia. She bought my car.
This is Sofia who bought my car.

OBJECT:
This the house. I was looking for it.
This is the house that I was looking for.
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
Type of Noun Relative Pronoun

People who, whom, that

Things (animals) that, which

Time when

Place where, when + prep

Possession whose

Reason why
Types of RELATIVE CLAUSES
If I remove the relative clause, does the
sentence still make sense?

This is Sofia who bought my car. =>

This is Sofia.
Do we know who Sofia is?

This is the house that I was looking for. =>

This is the house.
Do we know which house?
Types of RELATIVE CLAUSES
These are called:
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES.

Defining relative clauses tell us essential

infrmation about people, things, places, etc.

If we remove the clause, we do not know

which person/thing/place/etc. the person is
talking about.
 Types of RELATIVE CLAUSES
More examples:

The man who/that bought the jacket is over there.

That’s the car which/that won the race.
It was the moment when I knew for sure I loved him.
He’s the man whose house is for sale.
That’s the house where Sam lives.
Types of RELATIVE CLAUSES
Compare the two sentences. Are they
different in any way?

The building, which is very old, costs a lot of

money to repair.

That is the building which costs a lot of

money to repair.
 Types of RELATIVE CLAUSES
The building, which is very old, costs a lot
of money to repair.

This is a NON-DEFINING RELATIVE

CLAUSE. Non-defining relative clauses tell
us extra information about people,things,
places, etc.

If we remove the clause, we still know what

person/thing/place/etc. the person is talking
about.
 DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
 Add essential information and cannot be omitted
 Are never separated by commas
 That can be used instead of which (things) or who
(people)
 Usually put the preposition at the end of a relative
clause (unless it is formal or very long):
That’s the house which I used to live in. (places)
It depends on the area in which you live. (formal
letter)
This is the letter in which he said he was looking
forward to coming home.
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
 Very often we omit the relative pronoun when it is
the object of the relative clause:

I love the dress which/that you bought last week.

(You bought the dress last week.)

=>

I love the dress you bought last week.

Why???? BECAUSE WE CAN!!!!

NON-DEFINING RELATIVE
CLAUSES
 Add extra, non-essential information
 Must separate by commas
 That is NEVER used
 The relative pronoun can NEVER be omitted
 After numbers and words like some, many, most,
neither:
There were a lot of people in the house, some of
whom I’d met before.
I did German and Italian at university, neither of
which I had learnt before.
PRACTICE
Choose the correct alternative:

Have you ever been back to the town, that you were
born in?

Have you ever been back to the town that you were
born in?
 PRACTICE
Choose the correct alternative:

This is the restaurant which I love.

This is the restaurant where I love.

PRACTICE
Choose the correct alternative:

That’s the reason how he’s so popular.

That’s the reason why he’s so popular.

PRACTICE
Choose the correct alternative:

I admire Jude Law, who he always works hard on his

films.

I admire Jude Law, who always works hard on his

films.
PRACTICE
Complete with the correct relative pronoun:

The woman …. opened the door was my old

teacher.

This is the house …. I was born.

The man …. mobile phone had rung went outside.

That was the day …. Paul had left for Scotland.

PRACTICE
Complete with the correct relative pronoun:

Is this the machine …. broke down?

A girl …. name was Lucy introduced herself to me.

The boys …. are playing over there are my friends.

I saw a car …. was going in the opposite direction.