Relative clauses II
Non-defining relative clauses
Non-defining relative clauses give additional, not essential information on something or someone, but do not define it. It does not help to identify the thing or the person. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.Compare:
· The teacher who teaches maths is
popular in the school. (The relative clause identifies who we are talking about; it is defining; so no commas)
·
Mr Jones, who teaches science, is
very popular in the school. (The clause gives us extra information, but it is not necessary; it is non-defining, so commas are used)
·
My wallet, which was in my handbag,
has disappeared. (It adds extra information, but not essential; it is non-defining, so commas are used)
Relative pronouns in non-defining clauses
| Person | Thing | Place | Time | |
| Subject | who | which | ||
| Object | who/whom | which | where | when |
| Possessive | whose | whose |
My father, who lives in Wales, is 83.
The weather, which had been good all year, suddenly turned nasty.
Jim, whose car had broken down, arrived at the party very lat.
IMPORTANT!
- In non-defining clauses, you cannot use ‘that' instead of who, whom or which.
- You cannot omit the relative pronoun, even when it is the object of the verb in the relative clause:
He gave me the present, which I opened immediately
- The preposition in these clauses can go at the end of the clause:
This is Miami, which you have all heard about
- Which at the beginning of a non-defining relative clause, can refer to all the information contained in the previous part of the sentence:
He was very quiet, which was unusual for him
Non-defining relative clause
Non-defining relative clauses
Join each pair of sentences, using a non-defining relative clause
1. My grandmother is a healthy old woman. She is 93
2. The café "Hot Pot" is not far from here. I used to go there
3. My best friend is learning Chinese. Her mother speaks four languages
4. Stella rang me last night. I haven't seen her for ages
5. The explosion happened around 10 last night. It injured 10 people
6. "Newsweek" magazine is full of information. It comes out on Mondays
7. Tony More plays the saxophone. He is from
8. My friend John is going to buy the house next door. I met his sister in Italy last summer
1.
|
a. The
book which is on the
table belongs to Brandon
| |
|
b. The
book, which is on the
table, belongs to Brandon
|
|
a. My
father whom I helped to install his computer always forgets his
password
| |
|
b. My
father, whom I helped to install his computer, always forgets his
password
| |
|
c. My
father, I helped to install his computer, always forgets his
password
|
|
a. The
museum which we
visited last month is closed now
| |
|
b. The
museum, which we
visited last month, is closed now
| |
|
c. The
museum we
visited last month is closed now
|
|
a. The
woman, who is talking
to Mike, is my aunt
| |
|
b. The
woman who is talking
to Mike is my aunt
|
|
a. Bob, who I know very well, is going out
with Mary
| |
|
b. Bob who I know very well is going out
with Mary
| |
|
c. Bob I know very well is going out
with Mary
|
READ THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE
|
(a) What is the 8.10?
(b) What is the 8.40?
(c) Who is Mr. White?
(d) Who is Mr. Brown? (Connect him with Mr. White.)
Combine the following pairs of sentences into one sentence (one for each pair) using relative pronouns:
(e) Mr. Black usually catches the 8.10. This is a fast train.
(f) Today he missed the 8.10. This annoyed him very much.