10th week – Unit three and six, Lesson 8 Lecturer: Maura de Oliveira

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RELATIVE CLAUSES

The Basics

A relative clause is the part of the sentence which denotes which person or thing your
sentence is about.

1. The woman who lives next door works as a nurse.

The sentence is referring to one woman, the woman living next door, therefore who is used.

2. The chair that I am sitting on belonged to my grandmother.

The sentence is referring to a particular chair, the one which the speaker is sitting on,
therefore that is used.

The relative sentence is composed by three main parts:

1. The main sentence;

2. The relative pronoun and
3. Relative clause
 In the examples above the underlined clause is the relative clause and it is
introduced by a relative pronoun- this is the dependent clause in the sentence
 The main clause is the independent sentence and it can by itself pass meaning-
 Relative pronouns are words we use to introduce the relative clause in the
sentence and they identify the nouns (people, place and things) in the subject or
object of the sentence. Below we have the list of the relative clauses

Who – is used with people nouns

Which – used with places and things nouns

That – used for both situations

10th week – Unit three and six, Lesson 8 Lecturer: Maura de Oliveira
Note: When speaking about unidentified animals which and that are usually used, however,
it is increasingly common to use who when speaking about named animals in English.

E.g. Red Rum, who won the derby, was a well-bred race horse.

Defining Relative Clauses.

Normally when using relative clauses in English they reinforce the person or thing the
sentence is referring to. This is the case with the examples given above. This type of
relative clause could be referred to as a necessary information clause or more commonly a
defining relative clause, as without this information the reader would be unsure which
person or thing is being spoken about.

Relative clauses are not only used to give necessary information however. Compare the
following sentences.

1. The essay which you are writing should be finished by Friday.

2. Peter’s essay, which he is writing, should be finished by Friday.

The second sentence differs from the first because it does not give necessary information
about which essay the sentence refers to (we are immediately told it is Peter’s essay). Instead
the sentence gives us some extra information about the essay (Peter is writing the essay now).
This is an extra information clause.

Relative clauses are used to provide extra information only when the person or thing
referred to in a sentence is clearly defined immediately. This means that the person or thing
will have a unique name or will have adjectives or other describing words attached to it.
Study the following examples.

1. Rachael Bradford, who you met at my birthday party, is a very pleasant girl. The
subject of the sentence is immediately named, therefore the fact that she was at the
birthday party is extra information.
2. The big blue ball, which we were playing with yesterday, is in the shed. The subject of
the sentence is immediately described, therefore the fact that it was being played with
yesterday is extra information.
10th week – Unit three and six, Lesson 8 Lecturer: Maura de Oliveira
3. Indian elephants, who are an endangered species, have very large ears. The subject of
the sentence is Indian elephants, therefore the fact that they are an endangered
species is extra information.
10th week – Unit three and six, Lesson 8 Lecturer: Maura de Oliveira
Omitting Relative Clauses and Adding Commas.

In defining relative clauses who, that or which can sometimes be omitted. This depends on
whether the relative clause is the subject or the object of a sentence. When the relative clause
is the subject of the sentence it cannot be omitted.

 The woman who lives next door works as a nurse.

We cannot say The woman lives next door works as a nurse, as the woman is the subject of
the sentence.

When the relative clause is the object of the sentence it can be omitted.

Eg: The chair that I am sitting on belonged to my grandmother. = The chair I am sitting on
belonged to my grandmother.

That can be omitted as the chair is the object of the sentence.

In addition to this, when a defining relative clause takes an –ING form who, that or which
can be omitted.

Eg. 1. The dog that is lying on the grass is very vicious. = The dog lying on the grass is
very vicious.

2. The children who are doing the test are very intelligent. = The children doing the
test are very intelligent.

Remember if you omit the relative clause in this type of sentence, you must also omit the
verb to be (am, is or are). In extra information clauses nothing can be omitted from the
sentence. Instead, it should be remembered that commas are always placed around the extra
information clause.

Eg. 1. David Keene, who plays for Birmingham City, is an excellent footballer.
10th week – Unit three and six, Lesson 8 Lecturer: Maura de Oliveira
2. London, which is the largest city in England, has a population of around ten million.
3. The Giant Woolly Mammoth, which is now extinct, used to populate Northern Siberia.
10th week – Unit three and six, Lesson 8 Lecturer: Maura de Oliveira
1. Exercises: Test your Knowledge

1. Fill in either who or which in the following sentences:

a) The man ____________ bought the car complained about the gearbox.

b) The horse ____________ won the race was very fast.

c) Richard Kelly, ________ works at Siemens, has a company car.

d) Our dog Rover, _______ is a labrador, goes for a walk twice a day.

e) My grandma, __________ broke her hip last year, can’t walk very well.

f) The house ____________ we have bought needs to be repaired and decorated.

g) The clothes ____________he was wearing were very nice.

h) The curtains ___________you damaged are still being repaired.

i) Jenny, ____________ will be ten next year, is getting much taller.

j) Snow White, _________ is a children’s film, was animated by Disney.

2. Combine the following pairs of sentences using a relative clause.

a) We met the man while we were on holiday. He was very nice.

b) The Smiths have a very big house. They have a large family.

c) I saw the dog in the pet shop. I decided to buy it.

d) I like James. He is very intelligent and agreeable.

e) We visited London. It was on our way home.

f) Sandra was travelling by bus. She had a long way to go.

g) John has plenty of spare time. He reads a lot.

h) The university has a large number of facilities. It is one of the best in the country.

i) Your shirt is very dirty. I only washed it yesterday.

j) The cat wasn’t hungry. The cat normally eats quite a lot.

3. Decide whether the following sentences are defining relative clauses or extra
information clauses. Comment on why you have decided what type of clause they are.

a) The man who is a doctor is sitting over there.

b) My father, who is a doctor, is very professional.

10th week – Unit three and six, Lesson 8 Lecturer: Maura de Oliveira
c) Jane, who is never on time, arrived late for our appointment.

d) The boy who isn’t very organised planned the party.

e) The huge house at the end of our street, which is derelict, is quite spooky and
interesting.

f) His house, which is very luxurious, was once featured in a magazine article.

g) The desk which you are working on is made of solid pine.

h) Our dreams, which can tell us a lot about ourselves, usually only occur in REM sleep.

i) Australan kangaroos, who can move incredibly quickly, keep their babies in a pouch.

j) The kangaroos which we saw in the zoo were very beautiful animals.

4. Use the information given to make sentences using extra information clauses. The
first answer is given as an example.

a) Michael Jones, doctor, works nights. Michael Jones, who is a doctor, works nights.

b) Our house, large garden, outside Prague.

c) My mother, sitting in the corner, is a teacher.

d) The Astronomical Clock, tourist attraction, very old.

e) Paris, capital of France, beautiful city.

f) The pyramids, wonder of the world, mysterious.

g) The book I have just read, interesting, written by Simon Disraeli.

h) My best friend, I don’t see very often, always very busy.

i) Coventry Cathedral, was very beautiful, bombed during the war.

j) Cows, gentle animals, mainly eat grass.

5. Omit the relative clauses where possible. Include commas where necessary.

a) The parrot which I bought is very talkative.

b) Winnie the Pooh which was written by AA Milne is a very famous children’s story.
c) Alison Clark who is getting married in the summer lives in Bristol.
d) Have you been in touch with the man who you met at the party.
e) The common sparrow who is usually brown has a good survival instinct.
f) Dogs who are trained properly can make wonderful pets.
10th week – Unit three and six, Lesson 8 Lecturer: Maura de Oliveira
g) The dog which I own isn’t very well trained.
h) The Nile which is Egypt’s main river floods every year.
i) Prague which is the capital of the Czech Republic is very beautiful.
j) The man who is sitting on your right is a famous Australian actor.