Relative clauses

Defining and non-defining relative clauses

Who is a "relative?"

What is a clause?

= a group of words, usually only a part of sentence

= consists of Subject + Verb

Relative clauses

= vzťažné vety

= identify which person or thing we are talking about

= give more information about the person or thing

The boy has gone to the beach. (Which boy?)

The boy who lives next door has gone to the beach.

The book is very good. (Which book?)

The book that I bought yesterday is very good.

There is a photo of the hotel. (Which hotel?)

There is a photo of the hotel where we stayed.

Defining and non-defining relative clauses

1. defining relative clauses = essential information

> The writer who wrote ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ is my favourite author.

> The house where we live is very old.

> A pilot is a man who flies a plane.

2. non-defining relative clauses = extra information

> John Steinbeck, who wrote ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, is my favourite author.

> Our house, where we have lived for ten years, is very old.

> Captain John Chang, who is flying the plane today, is a highly experienced pilot.

Relative pronouns

• WHO = refers to people

• WHICH = refers to things

• THAT = refers to both people and things (can be used only in defining relative clauses)

• WHERE = refers to places

• WHEN = refers to time

• WHOSE = refers to possession

• WHY = refers to a reason

Grammatical properties

Defining relative clauses

> can use that

> no commas

> sometimes you can leave out the relative pronoun

Non-defining relative clauses

> can't use that

> commas

> you can never leave out the relative pronoun

WHAT IS NOT A RELATIVE PRONOUN

This is something that makes me happy. – To je niečo, čo ma teší.

I want to know what happened to you. – Chcem vedieť, čo sa ti stalo. (= jedná sa o predmetnú vetu, v ktorej sa WHAT môže nachádzať)

Leaving out the relative pronoun

- if it's the object of a relative clause = you can leave it out

The book which I bought is not very good.

The book I bought is not very good.

- if it's the subject of a relative clause = you must keep it

(tip: the sentence would start with a verb)

The stone which fell on my head was quite big.

Multiple Select

Choose all the relative pronouns.

• who

• what

• that

• which

• when

Multiple Choice

Relative pronoun that can be used in both types of relative clauses.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

With .... relative clauses we use commas.

• defining

• non-defining

Multiple Choice

We can leave out the relative pronoun in .... relative clauses.

• defining

• non-defining

Multiple Choice

The relative pronoun can be left out if it's the ...

• subject

• object