Def-non-def

Def-non-def

Exercises based on context

The role of context

• Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom? -

• Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you mean.

Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?

Exercise

More often than not, context is all that matters. Based on the situation, decide whether the defining or non-defining clause is the correct one in the given situation.

Multiple Choice

I have three brothers.

• My brother who lives in Sydney came to see me last month.

• My brother, who lives in Sydney, came to see me last month.

Multiple Choice

I have one sister.

• My sister who is 25 years old spent her holiday in France.

• My sister, who is 25 years old, spent her holiday in France.

Multiple Choice

I am a shoe fanatic.

• The shoes which I bought yesterday are very comfortable.

• The shoes, which I bought yesterday, are very comfortable.

Multiple Choice

Mr Robinson is very famous.

• Mr Robinson whom I met at the trade fair is a famous inventor.

• Mr Robinson, whom I met at the trade fair, is a famous inventor.

Multiple Choice

Tamara has two cats. Both of them are black.

• Tamara's two cats which can play outside are black.

• Tamara's two cats, which can play outside, are black.

Multiple Choice

Kevin has four cats. Two of them are black.

• Kevin's two cats which are black can play outside.

• Kevin's two cats, which are black, can play outside.

Multiple Choice

We are on holiday. Yesterday we visited a church.

• The church which we visited yesterday is very old.

• The church, which we visited yesterday, is very old.

Multiple Choice

We are on holiday. Yesterday we visited a church.

• St. Mary's Church which we visited yesterday is very old.

• St. Mary's Church, which we visited yesterday, is very old.

Multiple Choice

Mr Robinson is very famous.

• Mr Robinson whom I met at the trade fair is a famous inventor.

• Mr Robinson, whom I met at the trade fair, is a famous inventor.

Multiple Choice

Bob's mum has lost her keys.

• Bob's mum who is a musician has lost her car keys.

• Bob's mum, who is a musician, has lost her car keys.

Multiple Choice

My friend Jane moved to Canada.

• My friend Jane whose husband is Canadian moved to Canada last week.

• My friend Jane, whose husband is Canadian, moved to Canada last week.