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Verbs

The document discusses defining and non-defining relative clauses. Defining relative clauses provide essential information and cannot be omitted, while non-defining clauses provide non-essential information and can be omitted. The document also covers which relative pronouns can be used and omitted in different contexts.

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Radhika Bhise
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8 views2 pages

Verbs

The document discusses defining and non-defining relative clauses. Defining relative clauses provide essential information and cannot be omitted, while non-defining clauses provide non-essential information and can be omitted. The document also covers which relative pronouns can be used and omitted in different contexts.

Uploaded by

Radhika Bhise
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Relative pronouns:
who/that - people: She’s the woman who/that works with me.
who(m)/that – people: She’s the girl who(m) I met last summer (object of the relative clause) and after prepositions – The meeting was led
by two men, one of whom is pretty famous.
which/that – things, animals: It’s a shop which sells candles. // which- previous clauses: You have all done your homework for today, which
makes me happy.
whose (of who/of which) – possessive: He’s the boy whose father owns the school.
where – places: A museum is a place where you can see objects that are important for our history.
when – time: The moment when you told me about her death was dreadful.
why – reason: The reason why I’m here is to explain…
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

- they give essential information (they CANNOT be omitted) - they do not give essential information (they CAN be omitted)
The man who was standing next to the door was my father. That man, who was standing next to the door, was my father.

- without commas: - between commas (or a comma and a full stop).


The book which / that / - I’m reading at the moment is really good. My granny, who’s nearly 80, still cooks every day.
My granny usually bakes strawberry cakes, which are delicious.

- the relative pronoun can be omitted as long as it is NOT the - the relative pronoun CANNOT be omitted, no matter whether it is
subject of the relative clause object or subject of the relative clause
She’s the woman who works with me. That man, who was standing next to the door, was my father.
NOT * She’s the woman works with me. subject
NOT *That man, was standing next to the door, was my father.
BUT
She’s the woman I told you about. That man, who(m) I told you about, is handsome.
She’s the woman who(m) I told you about. NOT *The man, I told you about, is handsome

- you can use BOTH who/which and that when the relative pronoun - you CAN’T use that instead of which when the relative pronoun is the
is the subject or the object of the relative clause: subject of the relative clause.
She’s the actress who/ that appears on TV. This book, which was first published last year, is a best-seller.
subject subject
She’s the girl who(m)/that I met that summer NOT *This book, that was first published last year, is a best-seller.
object subject

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