RELATIVE
CLAUSES
WHAT IS A RELATIVE
CLAUSE?
We can use relative clauses to join two English
sentences, or to give more information about
something.
I bought a new car. It is very fast.
→ I bought a new car that is very fast.
She lives in New York. She likes living in New
York.
→ She lives in New York, which she likes.
DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING
A defining relative clause tells which noun we are
talking about:
I like the woman who lives next door.
(If I don't say 'who lives next door', then we don't
know which woman I mean).
It gives information which is very important for
understanding the sentences and cannot be left out.
A non-defining relative clause gives us extra
information about something. We don't need this
information to understand the sentence.
I live in London, which has some fantastic
parks.
(Everybody knows where London is, so 'which has
some fantastic parks' is extra information).
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES:
1: The relative pronoun is the subject:
First, let's consider when the relative pronoun is the
subject of a defining relative clause.
We can use 'who', 'which' or 'that'. We use 'who' for
people and 'which' for things. We can use 'that' for
people or things.
The relative clause can come after the subject or the
object of the sentence. We can't drop the relative
pronoun.
For example (clause after the object of the sentence):
I'm looking for a secretary who / that can use a computer well.
She has a son who / that is a doctor.
We bought a house which / that is 200 years old.
I sent a letter which / that arrived three weeks later.
More examples (clause after the subject of the sentence):
The people who / that live on the island are very friendly.
The man who / that phoned is my brother.
The camera which / that costs £100 is over there.
The house which / that belongs to Julie is in London.
2: THE RELATIVE
PRONOUN IS THE
OBJECT:
Next, let's talk about when the relative pronoun is the object of
the clause. In this case we can drop the relative pronoun if we
want to. Again, the clause can come after the subject or the
object of the sentence. Here are some examples:
(Clause after the object)
She loves the chocolate (which / that) I bought.
We went to the village (which / that) Lucy recommended.
John met a woman (who / that) I had been to school with.
The police arrested a man (who / that) Jill worked with.
Prepositions and relative clauses
If the verb in the relative clause needs a preposition, we put it at the end of
the clause:
For example:
listen to
The music is good. Julie listens to the music.
→ The music (which / that) Julie listens to is good.
work with
My brother met a woman. I used to work with the woman.
→ My brother met a woman (who / that) I used to work with.
go to
The country is very hot. He went to the country.
→ The country (which / that) he went to is very hot.
WHOSE
'Whose' is always the subject of the relative clause and can't
be left out. It replaces a possessive. It can be used for people
and things.
The dog is over there. The dog's / its owner lives next door.
→ The dog whose owner lives next door is over there.
The little girl is sad. The little girl's / her doll was lost.
→ The little girl whose doll was lost is sad.
The woman is coming tonight. Her car is a BMW.
→ The woman whose car is a BMW is coming tonight.
WHERE / WHEN / WHY
We can sometimes use these question words instead
of relative pronouns and prepositions.
I live in a city. I study in the city.
→ I live in the city where I study.
→ I live in the city that / which I study in.
→ I live in the city in which I study.
The bar in Barcelona is still there. I met my wife in that bar.
→ The bar in Barcelona where I met my wife is still there.
→ The bar in Barcelona that / which I met my wife in is still
there.
→ The bar in Barcelona in which I met my wife is still there.
The summer was long and hot. I graduated from university in
the summer.
→ The summer when I graduated from university was long and
hot.
→ The summer that / which I graduated from university in was
long and hot.
→ The summer in which I graduated was long and hot.
