Relative clauses

Relative clauses

Relative clauses

Relative clauses give us more information about the subject or the object of the sentence. They are introduced by relative pronoun.

Multiple Choice

I cannot remember the reason ________ he wanted us to leave.

• why

• who

• when

Multiple Choice

The company gave a promotion to John, ________ department performed best last year

• who

• whose

• which

Multiple Choice

Do you know the man ________ lives across the street?

• whose

• which

• who

Defining relative clauses

Defining relative clauses give information for us to understand the meaning of the main clause.

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).

We DO NOT USE commas

Non-defining relative clauses

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).

We MUST use commas to separate the non-defining clause from the main clause.

Prepositions in relative clauses

If the verb in the relative clause needs a preposition, we put it at the end of the clause:

listen to

The music is good. Julie listens to the music.

→ The music (which / that) Julie listens to is good.

come from

I visited the city. John comes from the city.

→ I visited the city (that / which) John comes from

The sentence sounds formal if we put it before the relative pronoun.

The person to whom you must write works in my department.

Defining and non-defining relative clauses

Choose which of these sentences is correct. Should we use a defining relative clause or a non-defining relative clause?

For each question you have a clue.

Multiple Select

You have two houses.

• My house which is in Miami is very expensive.

• My house, which is in Miami, is very expensive.

Multiple Select

You are telling somebody that it is your car.

• The car that is outside the house is mine.

• The car, which is outside the house, is mine.

Multiple Select

There are thousands of museums around the world.

• The museum which we visited on holiday is very interesting.

• The museum, which we visited on holiday, is very interesting.

Multiple Select

You are talking about one room in your house.

• My living room which is the largest room in my house is at the front of the house.

• My living room, which is the largest room in my house, is at the front of the house.

Multiple Select

You are talking about a town.

• The town, which I live in, is very big

• The town which I live in is very big.