Grammar
Relative clauses
Relative clauses
Relative clauses are used to provide information about something or someone the speaker is talking about. By combining sentences with a relative clause, your expression becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.
For example, in the sentences: "The man is a policeman". "He was running in the park". We need the second sentence to understand who we are talking about: The man (but what man?) = he was running in the park. That man is a policeman.
You need the sentence: "he was running in the park" to define the noun or to restrict the reference of the noun (the man). This is the antecedent of the relative clause (that is, the noun that is modified by it)
- How to Form Relative Clauses
Relative clauses come after nouns and modify them. They tell the listener or reader more about the person or thing that the noun refer to. To combine these two sentences we usually need a relative pronoun ( that, which, who, whom, whose, where, when) For example:
The person who taught me English is American.
A person who designs buildings is an architect.
The man who sold the red house is a friend of mine.
The book which was on the shelf is very interesting.
That's the place where we went on our honeymoon.
That's the girl whose father in a politician.
Identifying relative clauses
Identifying relative clauses
Can you identify the pronoun and the headword in these sentences?
For example: That's the boy ← who lives next to me. (the boy is the headword - who is the relative pronoun)
1. I like people who have got a sense of humor.
2. That's the girl whose cousin lives next door to me.
3. Mary bought a dress which cost $100.
4. June is the month when most students do exams.
5. This is the shop where I bought my mobile phone.
6. I like wearing clothes that are comfortable.
Types of relative clauses
They can be divided into two types:
- Defining relative clauses are those giving detailed information, defining a general term or expression. They identify the person, thing or place that the speaker is talking about. Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.
Do you know the girl who is talking to Bob?
He is the teacher who gives us more work
The photos which I took on holiday are great
This is the building whose roof was damaged in the storm
Do you know a driving school where I could take classes?
These are the pronouns used in defining relative clauses:
| Person | Thing | Place | Time | Reason | |
| Subject | who/that | which/that | |||
| Object | who/whom/that/ø | which/that/ø | where |
when |
why |
| Possessive | whose | whose |
Who / whom / that are used for people: What was the name of the man who lent you the money?
Which / that are used for things: The car that/which won the race is now for sale.
Whose is used to identify possession: A widow is a woman whose husband has died.
Where o (which + preposition) is used for places: This is the place where we used to eat / which we used to eat in.
Why is used to express reason: That is the reason why I left him.
IMPORTANT
- Who, whom and which can be replaced by that. This is very common in spoken English.
- The relative pronoun (who, that, which) can be omitted (ø) when it is the object of the clause:
The second sentence is more common in spoken English
(You can usually decide whether a relative pronoun is an object because it is normally followed by another subject + verb.)
- Whom
is very formal and is only used in written English. You can use who/that,
or omit the pronoun completely :
The doctor whom/who/that/ø I was hoping to see wasn't on duty.
1. A person watches too much television doesn't read a lot.
2. The students chose the teachers classes were more interesting.
3. Do you remember the summer we went to Scotland?
4. This is the school I studied.
5. She has bough a dress doesn't suit her at all.
6. I have met a boy parents live in different countries.
7. I work in an office everybody is divorced.
8. The dog is barking is mine.
9. I know someone can teach you chess.
10. Was that the day you came to London?
Further practice
Practice the relative pronouns who, which and that by doing these exercises:
| Exercise 1 |
Exercise 2 |
Exercise 3 |
Using defining relative clauses
Using defining relative clauses
Join each pair of sentences using a defining relative clause. Omit the relative pronoun when possible.
1. That's the place. I got married
2. My brother is the police officer. He caught the robbers
3. That's the man. I saw him yesterday
4. That was the car. It caused the accident
5. This is the boy. His brother had an accident
6. I only like the tea. You prepare it
7. The house is in Brighton. He lived with his wife and children
8. The girl is very attractive. He met her yesterday
Important
Remember that, when you join two sentences together, you usually have to omit some words:
*This is the mobile phone which I bought it yesterday. WRONG
This is the mobile phone which I bought yesterday. CORRECT
Make sure you don't make this common mistake!