Relative clauses

RELATIVE PRONOUNS:

• who → when we talk about people
• which → when we talk about things
• whose → instead of his/her or their
• We also use that for who/which.

OMISSION OF THE RELATIVE PRONOUN

We leave out the relative pronoun (who/which/that) if it is not the subject in the sentence.

• That is the book I like.

If there is a verb after the relative pronoun who/which/that, do not leave out the relative pronoun.

• He is the teacher who spoke to us yesterday morning.

Examples with the relative pronoun who

1st part of the sentence			2nd part of the sentence
This	is	the boy	who	was	at the party yesterday.
Subject	Verb	Rest	Subject	Verb	Rest

who is subject in the sentence, do not leave it out.

1st part of the sentence			Pronoun	2nd part of the sentence
This	is	the boy	who	I	met	at the party yesterday.
This	is	the boy	can be left out	I	met	at the party yesterday.
Subject	Verb	Rest		Subject	Verb	Rest

who is not subject in the sentence, it can be left out.

Examples with the relative pronoun which/that

1stpart of the sentence			2nd part of the sentence
This	is	the bike	which	was	in the shop window.
Subject	Verb	Rest	Subject	Verb	Rest

which is subject in the sentence, do not leave it out.

1st part of the sentence			Pronoun	2nd part of the sentence
This	is	the bike	which	I	bought	yesterday.
This	is	the bike	can be left out	I	bought	yesterday.
Subject	Verb	Rest		Subject	Verb	Rest

which is not subject in the sentence, it can be left out.

TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES

To understand the distinctions between that and which it is necessary to understand defining (restrictive) and non-defining (non-restrictive) clauses.

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Learning these distinctions is one technical aspect of grammar that every user of English should understand, because it is at the root of an assortment of grammatical errors.

NON DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

A non-defining, or non-restrictive, clause is one that can be regarded as parenthetical:

My house, which has a blue door, needs painting.

The italicized words are effectively an aside and could be deleted. The real point of the sentence is that the house needs painting; the blue door is incidental.

Use commas to set off non-defining elements, which contribute to, but do not determine, the meaning of the sentence. These elements may be clauses (groups of words that contain a subject and a verb) or phrases (groups of words that do not contain both a subject and a verb).

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

A defining, restrictive, clause is one that is essential to the sense of the sentence.

My house that has a blue door needs painting.

Here the blue door is a defining characteristic, it helps to distinguish that house from my other houses.

Defining clauses or phrases are not separated off with commas. A restrictive clause or phrase is essential to the meaning of the sentence; it defines the word it modifies by ›restricting‹ its meaning. Eliminating a restrictive element from a sentence changes its meaning dramatically.

EXERCISES

• who / which / whose 1 (Englisch Hilfen)
• who / which / whose 2 (Englisch Hilfen)
• who / whose / which 3 (English for You)
• Link sentences with that / who (Perfect English Grammar)
• who / which / that / where / when (Montse Morales)