Grammar

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Relative clauses give more information about the person, thing, place, etc. that we
are talking about. They are introduced by a relative pronoun or adverb (who, which,
whose, where, etc.). There are two types o f relative clause: defining relative clauses and
non-defining relative clauses.

Defining relative clauses

• Defining relative clauses identify which person, thing, place, etc. we mean exactly. They
are also called identifying relative clauses. We cannot leave the relative clause out of the
sentence because without it, the sentence would sound incomplete.
This is the car that I saw h e re yesterday.
o The table below shows how relative pronouns are used in defining relative clauses:
r -----------------------
Subject Object Possession
People who/that who/whom/that whose
She’s the woman who/that She’s the woman (who/whom/ She’s the woman whose car
lives next door. that) I saw on TV last night. was stolen last night.
Things/Animals which/that which/that whose
I don’t want a car which/that This is the house (which/that) That’s the shop whose
breaks down all the time. we bought. windows were smashed.
That’s the kind o f dog which/ It’s the kind of dog (which/that) That’s the dog whose owner
that makes a good pet. I ’d like to have. was arrested.

° We do not use commas in defining relative clauses.

° We can leave out the relative pronoun if it is the object of the clause:
It’s the kind o f jo b (w h ich /th a t ) I ’d like to have.
° When the verb has a preposition, we usually put the preposition at the end of the
relative clause:
Miss Berry was the person (w ho/that) I sent the letter to.
Is this the book (which/that) you were looking fo r?
° In formal English, we can put the preposition before the relative pronouns whom or
which (but not before who or that):
Miss Berry was the person to w hom I sent the letter, (formal) /
Is this the book f o r w hich you were looking? (formal and uncommon) /
Miss Berry was the person to who I sent the letter.- /•
Is this the book f o r that you were looking? /•
« Whom is rather formal. We usually use who instead, except when we say to/for/with/etc. whom:
Is she the person to w hom you gave the letter?
H e’s the person w hom I saw with her. X
H e’s the person who I saw with her. /

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Non-defining relative clauses

• Non-defining relative clauses give additional information about the person, thing, place,
etc. we are talking about. They are also called non-identifying relative clauses. A sentence
would still make sense if we left out the non-defining relative clause.
The summer here, w hich I d o n ’t like, lasts fo r months.
The sum m er here lasts fo r months.
• The table below shows how relative pronouns are used in non-defining relative clauses:
r----------------------
Subject Object Possession
People who who/whom > whose/.
His wife, who is French, His wife, who/whom I met in His wife, whose car was
speaks three languages. Paris, is French. stolen, called the police.
Things/Animals which which whose
The book, which was The book, which I read last The book, whose title I can’t
published in 2011, is week, is brilliant. remember, has already sold
brilliant. thousands o f copies.
The dog, which looked very The dog, which I hadn’t seen The dog, whose name was
friendly, was huge. until then, was huge. Spot, was huge.

• We cannot use the relative pronoun that in non-defining relative clauses.

• We cannot leave out the relative pronoun in non-defining relative clauses.
• We use commas to separate the non-defining relative clause from the main clause. Note
the possible difference in meaning between defining (without commas) and non-defining
relative clauses (with commas):
The young man who lives n ex t d o o r has a dog. (= The relative clause (who lives next door)
explains who I’m talking about. Without it, the listener won’t know who I’m referring to.)
The young man, who lives n ex t door, has a dog. (= The listener knows who ‘the young
man’ is. The relative clause (who lives next door) is extra information.)

Relative adverbs
• We use the relative adverbs when, where and why in relative clauses, to refer to time,
place and reason. We can use when and where in both defining and non-defining relative
clauses. Why is only used in defining relative clauses.•

Adverb Defining Non-defining

when That was the year when I graduated. I met Fred in 2010, when I moved to York.
where That’s the spot where the statue will be built. Lyon, where my dad grew up, is a big city.
why Did he tell you the reason why you were fired? -

• In defining relative clauses, we can use that instead of when and why (but not where):
That was the year w h en /th a t my parents got married.
That’s the reason w hy/that I didn ’t want her to know!
• In defining relative clauses, we can use a preposition and which instead of a relative adverb:
T hat’s the factory w here they m ake chemicals.
T hat’s the factory in w hich they m ake chemicals.
That’s the factory (w hich) they m ake chemicals in.
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Coordinating relative clauses

• In coordinating relative clauses, which refers to the whole main clause.
She lied to him, w hich m a d e him furious. (= which refers to She h ad lied to him.)
• Coordinating relative clauses always come after the main clause, and are separated from it
with a comma.
I decided to join them, w hich w as a h ad idea.

whatever, whichever, etc.

We use whatever whichever, whoever, wherever and whenever to talk about a person, thing,
place, etc., when it does not matter who, what, which, etc. Whichever usually comes before
a noun; whatever, whoever, wherever and whenever usually come before a clause:

Things/Actions whichever Buy whichever book you want. (= any book you want)
whatever Whatever she can do to help, she will. (= anything she can do)
People whoever Invite whoever you like. (= anyone)

Places wherever I ’ll go wherever I like. (= to any place)

Time whenever Come whenever you like. (= any time)

0 Join the sentences. Use non-defining relative clauses. Use the second sentence
in the relative clause.
0 Mrs Cooper is always very patient. She teaches
French. 4 Our cat is called William. W e’ve had him for
!Ars. .Coop.ey:,. yvkc>. .teacke-s.Brenck,..... five years.
hs. .always, yevry. pdbieyyf..............................
1 The new director is very popular. He gets on 5 2008 was the happiest year of my life. I met
well with everyone. my wife then.

2 London was amazing. We spent our holidays 6 The castle was built in the sixteenth century.
there. It’s the oldest building in our town.

3 The film was called Finding Grace. I enjoyed it 7 Tim speaks Spanish. His wife is from Peru.
very much.8
8 My sister is a vet. She lives in Canada.

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Q Rewrite the sentences. Put the preposition Q Complete the text. Use relative pronouns or
at the end. Omit the relative pronoun if it is adverbs.
not necessary.
0 Computer programming is something about
which I know little. V W v Q o c f iv :
Cowtpw+eir. .p yo q Y 'A w-!wYiy \^ i s ...................
sometK'log. .1. Jcyjejw .Ii++le. atowf.......... the sadness will
1 It was a mistake for which they have already last forever
apologised. Van Gogh was a Dutch painter (0)„ wljg.se..
work has had a huge influence on 20th
2 Maths is a subject in which she has little century art but (1>................ was not
interest. appreciated during his lifetime. His paintings,
(2) ..............are known for their vivid
3 It was Mr Edwards to whom they sold the
colours, have a very distinctive style.
house.
(3) ..............beholds one of them can’t
help but be moved. And today, his works
are priceless - (4>................ they come up
4 It was the Queen to whom the Prime for auction, they sell for millions of pounds.
Minister sent the letter. (5) ..............he painted - self portraits,
landscapes, portraits or sunflowers - is
5 It was the bank from which he had borrowed worth a lot of money today.
money. In his early adulthood, Van Gogh travelled
between The Hague and Paris, after
6 That was the year in which I was born. (6) ..............he taught in England. In
1885,(7)................ he was thirty-two, he
7 March 25th is the day on which the country painted his first major work, The Potato
celebrates its independence. Eaters,(8).................was quite a dark work.
In his next works, he began to use the
vivid colours for(9)................ he became
8 That’s the hospital in which the twins were
famous.
born.
In 1886, he moved to Paris,(10).*...............
9 That’s the island on which we spent our
he discovered the French Impressionists.
honeymoon.
The reason (11)................ they were called
this was after a painting by Claude Monet(12)
.................was called Impression - Sunrise.
10 These are the reasons for which I chose to Van Gogh’s brother, Theo,(13)................
marry him. was a great influence on Van Gogh, had a
large collection of Impressionist paintings.
Q Rewrite sentences 7-10 from Exercise 2 . On 27 July 1890, aged thirty-seven, Van
using w h e n , w h e r e or w h y . Gogh shot himself; he died two days later.
His brother Theo,(14)................ was at his
6 Tta+.WAS.Tlr\e./ e a r . ,wlr*ey\.X. w.a S 'b o Y Y ). side at the end, said his brother’s last words
7 ...................................................................................... were: the sadness will last forever.
8 .....................................
9 ...................................................................................... f ' \
People who live in glass
10 .................................................................................
houses shouldn’t throw stones.
V___________________ J
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