Relative Clauses

Relative Clausesa clause introduced by a relative pronoun/adverb

Can you find them?• Jack: Where are the books?• John: Which books?• Jack: The books that were lying on this table?• John: Your friend has taken them.• Jack: But I don’t remember lending them to

anyone.• John: Your friend who visited us yesterday

borrow them from you.• Jack: How forgetful of me!

What is a Clause?Consequently, What is a Relative Clause?

A clause is a group of words containing a (finite) verb. A clause may be part of a sentence. An adjective clause is one that describes a noun or a pronoun. We also call it a relative clause.

Its Entry in a Sentence

The books that were lying on the table are missing.

• Your friend who visited us yesterday borrowed them.

• Relative clause is usually introduced by relative pronouns such as who, which, that, whose, whom, where and when.

Its Entry in a Sentence

Relative clauses are introduced just after the antecedent and are introduced by a pronoun or a relative adverb. The most frequent ones are: who; whom; which; that (only in defining relative clauses), and relative adverbs: where; when; why.

Provides (Important/Additional) Information

A relative clause (adjective clause) is a subordinate (supporting) clause that gives information about a noun (subject or object) in the main clause.

No Useless Repetition

Subordinate clauses are clauses which allow us to add information about people or things we are talking to, without a need to repeat the name, e.g.:That is the house. The house was built on the main road.

That is the house which was built on the main road.

Types of Relative Clause

• Relative clauses are usually divided into two types:

• A. Non-Defining Relative Clauses• B. Defining Relative Clauses

Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Look at this sentence:My grandfather, who is 90, goes jogging everyday.

‘who is 90’ is a non-defining relative clause. It adds extra information to the sentence. If we take the clause out of the sentence, the sentence still has the same meaning.

Examples of Non-Defining Relative Clause

1. My eldest son, whose work takes him all over the world, is in Hong Kong at the moment.2. The car, which can Reach speeds of over 300km/ph, costs over $500,000.

• 3. The film, which stars Tom Cruise, releases on Saturday.

Main Features of Non-Defining Relative Clauses

- 1. Between commas- 2. ‘That’ is not allowed- 3. The relative pronoun can’t be

omitted- 4. It’s less frequent than defining

relative clauses. It is more formal and usually used in written texts

- 5. Add extra information to sentences.

Defining Relative ClausesDefining Relative Clauses are used to add important information to a sentence. The sentence would have a different meaning without a defining relative clause.They give essential information about their antecedent and without them, the meaning will be incompleted. That is why you write them without commas.The computer which we bought is very expensive.

The man who is coming will bring us the present.

Comparing Defining & Non-Defining Relative Clauses

I’m going to wear the skirt that I bought in London. The defining relative clause tells us which skirt.The skirt, which is a lovely dark blue colour, only cost £10. The non-defining relative clause doesn’t tell us which skirt – it gives us more

information about the skirt.

Important Facts

Non-defining relative clauses can use most relative pronouns (which, whose etc,) but they CAN’T use ‘that’ and the relative pronoun can never be omitted.The film, that stars Tom Cruise, is released on Saturday.Non-defining relative clauses are more often used in written English than in spoken English. You can tell that a clause is non-defining because it is separated by commas at each end of the clause.

Examples of ‘Where’ as the Relative Adverb

The relative adverb where is used after nouns referring to places:

The house where Mozart was born is now a museum. (defining relative clause)I flew to Prague, where I had to catch another plane to Oslo. (non-defining relative clause)

Examples of ‘When’ as the Relative Adverb

The relative adverb when is used after nouns referring to times and dates:

I can't remember a time when I was so happy. (defining relative clause) The most stressful day of the week is Monday, when people go back to work. (non-defining relative clause)

Examples of ‘Why’ as the Relative Adverb

The relative adverb why is used after reason:The reason why I didn't call you is that I've lost your phone number. (only in defining relative clauses)

Examples of ‘Whose’ as the Relative Pronoun

The engineer whose design is selected will be offered a contract. (defining relative clause)Van Gogh, whose paintings are popular today, was not appreciated during his life. (non-defining relative clause)

Relative Clauses

Defining Non-Defining

Pronouns

Who/

That

Which/

That

Whose

Where

When/That

Whom

They give us essential

information

The information given is not

essential,it can be omitted.Pronouns

Who Which Whose When

Where

All right, Bye Now!