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Understanding Relative Clauses

A relative clause is a subordinate clause that provides additional information about a noun, starting with a relative pronoun. There are two types of relative clauses: defining, which gives essential information without commas, and non-defining, which offers extra information and uses commas. The document includes examples, a summary table of relative pronouns, and practice exercises for identifying and using relative clauses.

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29 views5 pages

Understanding Relative Clauses

A relative clause is a subordinate clause that provides additional information about a noun, starting with a relative pronoun. There are two types of relative clauses: defining, which gives essential information without commas, and non-defining, which offers extra information and uses commas. The document includes examples, a summary table of relative pronouns, and practice exercises for identifying and using relative clauses.

Uploaded by

Michel Garcia
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Topic: Relative Clauses

What is a Relative Clause?

A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause that gives more information about a noun in the
main clause. It usually begins with a relative pronoun.
Types of Relative Clauses
Defining Relative Clauses
• Give essential information about the noun.
• No commas.
• Relative pronouns: who, which, that, whose, where, when

Examples:

• The woman who lives next door is a doctor.


• This is the book that I told you about.

Non-defining Relative Clauses


• Give extra, non-essential information.
• Use commas.
• You cannot use "that".
• Relative pronouns: who, which, whose, where, when

Examples:

• My brother, who lives in Paris, is visiting next week.


• The car, which was very expensive, broke down.

Relative Pronouns Summary Table


Pronoun Refers to Example

who people The man who called you is my uncle.

whom people (object) The woman whom you met is my aunt.

whose possession The girl whose phone rang was late.

which things/animals The book which I borrowed is great.

that people/things The cat that you saw is mine.

where place The cafe where we met was nice.


Pronoun Refers to Example

when time The day when I arrived was rainy.

2. Guided Practice
A. Choose the correct relative pronoun
1. The boy ___ broke the window is my cousin. (who/which/where)
2. This is the house ___ I grew up. (where/which/who)
3. She’s the teacher ___ students won the contest. (whose/whom/that)
4. I remember the day ___ we first met. (when/where/which)
5. That’s the film ___ made me cry. (who/that/when)

B. Combine the sentences using a relative clause


1. I have a friend. He speaks five languages.
→ __________________________________________
2. This is the museum. It has ancient Roman statues.
→ __________________________________________
3. The woman is very kind. Her son is in my class.
→ __________________________________________
4. They visited the city. She was born there.
→ __________________________________________
5. I met a man. He knows your brother.
→ __________________________________________

3. Controlled Practice
C. Identify if the relative clause is defining (D) or non-defining (ND)
1. The phone, which I bought yesterday, doesn’t work. → ______
2. The man who fixed our sink is very skilled. → ______
3. Sarah, who loves dancing, is going to a festival. → ______
4. This is the book that won the award. → ______
5. The students, whose grades were high, got scholarships. → ______
D. Fill in the blanks with a correct relative clause
1. The teacher ___________________ is very strict.
2. The cake ___________________ was delicious.
3. That’s the girl ___________________ parents are from Spain.
4. I visited the place ___________________ you were born.
5. July is the month ___________________ most people go on holiday.

4. Freer Practice / Production

E. Personalize – Write 3 sentences using relative clauses:


1. (A person you know)
→ __________________________________________________
2. (A place you’ve been)
→ __________________________________________________
3. (An object you own)
→ __________________________________________________

F. Group/Pair Activity (Classroom Use): “Guess Who/What”

Instructions: Describe a person, place, or object using a relative clause. Your partner guesses
what it is.

Examples:

• “It’s something that you use to write.” → A pen?


• “She’s someone who teaches English at our school.” → Ms. Taylor?
5. Homework / Extra Practice
• Write a short paragraph (5–6 sentences) about a famous person or place using at least
3 relative clauses.
• Example: “Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, was a physicist. He
lived in Germany, where he was born, and later moved to the USA…”

Identify and correct the mistake

Each sentence has an error in the relative clause. Find and fix it.

1. The girl which won the race is my cousin.


2. I know a man who his brother is a chef.
3. The school when I studied has been demolished.
4. That’s the reason which I left early.
5. The cake, that she made yesterday, was delicious.

Common questions

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Commas are significant in differentiating non-defining relative clauses from defining ones. Non-defining clauses use commas to provide additional, non-essential information, as in 'My brother, who lives in Paris, is visiting next week' . In contrast, defining clauses do not use commas as they provide essential information, like 'The woman who lives next door is a doctor' .

The relative pronoun 'whose' indicates possession and can refer to both animate and inanimate nouns. For example, 'The girl whose phone rang was late' demonstrates possession for a person, while 'The company whose policies changed' applies to an inanimate noun .

Defining relative clauses provide essential information about the noun, are not set off by commas, and can use the relative pronouns who, which, that, whose, where, and when . Non-defining relative clauses offer extra, non-essential information, are set off by commas, and cannot use 'that' as a relative pronoun .

The error in 'I know a man who his brother is a chef' is the misuse of 'who,' leading to a grammatically incorrect clause. The correct form is 'I know a man whose brother is a chef,' where 'whose' indicates possession .

The relative pronoun 'who' is used to refer to people, while 'which' is used for things or animals . For example, 'The man who called you is my uncle' uses 'who' for a person, and 'The book which I borrowed is great' uses 'which' for a thing .

The mistake in 'The school when I studied has been demolished' lies in the misuse of 'when' instead of 'where.' The correct version is 'The school where I studied has been demolished,' using 'where' to refer to the place, not the time .

'That' should not be used in non-defining relative clauses, which give extra, non-essential information about the noun and are set off by commas . In non-defining clauses, 'who' and 'which' are preferred to maintain the structure .

Using the wrong relative pronoun can change the meaning or grammatical correctness of a sentence. For example, 'The girl which won the race is my cousin' is incorrect because 'which' is used for things, not people; the correct pronoun is 'who' . This error can make the sentence misleading or unclear.

An example sentence using a defining relative clause could be: 'The laptop that I bought last year has significantly improved my productivity.' Here, 'that I bought last year' is essential to specifying which laptop .

'Where' refers to a place, as in 'The cafe where we met was nice,' while 'when' refers to a time, as in 'The day when I arrived was rainy' . Both introduce clauses that provide additional information about the noun, specifying place or time contexts .

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