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Relative Clauses

Definition
Imagine a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her.
You could say:

A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?

That sounds rather complicated. It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of
information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing (you want to know who the girl is).

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

A relative clause is a part of a sentence beginning with a relative pronoun (although this pronoun can be
omitted in certain cases).
For example:
The school where I taught is called St. Michael.
The man who went into the baker's bought a loaf of bread.
My sister, who lives near London, is coming to visit me soon.

Defining vs. Non-defining Relative Clauses

It is important to distinguish between defining and non-defining relative clauses.

Defining relative clauses: These are the ones that give you the information you need to understand the
sentence. They are an essential part of the meaning of a sentence and therefore cannot be left out.
They define exactly who or what we are talking about. If you take the relative clause away, the
sentence doesn't make sense.

For example:
The team that wins will receive a cup and 1,000 €. (What team?)
The man who lives next door is always making a noise. (What man?)
Has he told you what he's going to do? (Has he told me what?)

Non-defining relative clauses: These are the ones that give extra information. They are always written
between commas. If you leave out the relative clause between the commas it still makes sense.

For example:
Valencia, which is Spain's third largest city, is on the Mediterranean coast.
My parents, who are retired, come to Spain every year.
I used to live in London, where I was born and went to school.

Defining relative clauses

PERSON THING
SUBJECT Who/that Which/that
OBJECT (Who/that) (Which/that)

Notice that English likes to drop the relative pronoun when it defines the object of the clause.
The doctor who helped me most was Dr Clark (subject)
The doctor I found most helpful was Dr Clark (object)
The treatment that helped me most was acupuncture (subject)
The treatment that I liked best was acupuncture (object)
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Relative Clauses

Non-defining relative clauses

PERSON THING
SUBJECT Who Which
OBJECT Who Which

Mr Smith, who has written several books, spoke at the meeting last night (subject)
Peter Clark, who the Prime Minister sacked from the Cabinet, has become the chairman of Redland Bank
(object)
My favourite drink is whisky, which is one of Britain’s most profitable exports (subject)
I gave him a sandwich, which he ate greedily (object)

Notice that there are commas around non-defining relative clauses when written, and pauses before and
after them when spoken.

Notice also that THAT cannot be used and the relative pronoun is not omitted.

Subject and object pronouns

The use of who/which/that may depend on whether the pronoun is the subject or the object of the
sentence. For example:

The man who spoke to me told me the story of his life.

He spoke to me, so 'who' is the subject and 'me' is the object.

The man that I spoke to told me the story of his life.

I spoke to him, so 'I' is the subject and 'that' is the object.

When the pronoun is the object it can be left out:

The man I spoke to told me the story of his life

Relative clauses and prepositions

Prepositions can be either before relative pronouns or at the end of the relative clause. In spoken
English, it is much more common to put the preposition at the end (and to drop the pronoun)

This is the book I was talking you about.

The people I work with are very kind.
The hotel we stayed at was a little disappointing.

Prepositions can come at the end of non-defining relative clauses, but in a formal style they are usually
put before the relative pronoun.

The lecture spoke for two hours on the subject of Theory of Market Forces, which none of us had ever
heard of.
The privatisation of all industry, to which this government is deeply committed, is not universally
popular.
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Relative Clauses

Other relative pronouns

The relative pronoun you use depends on the thing you're talking about.

Relative
Use Example
pronoun

who Subject or object pronoun for people I told you about the woman who lives next door.

Subject or object pronoun for animals and

which Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof?
things

This can be used to refer to the whole part

of the sentence that went before. Usually a
which He couldn’t read which surprised me.
pronoun refers to a noun, but this refers to
more.

whose Possession for people animals and things Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?

This is hardly ever used in spoken English,

and not often in written English. It sounds
The woman to whom he was talking is his sister.
whom very formal to most people. If you're going
to use it at all, then only use it after
prepositions.

Subject or object pronoun for people,

that animals and things in defining relative I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen.
clauses (who or which are also possible)

where For places, meaning in/at which the place where we met him

why For reasons, meaning for which the reason why we met him

when For times, meaning in/on which the day when we met him

This can be literally translated to mean 'the

what I didn't know what he was going to do next.
thing that' or 'that which'.

How to Shorten Relative Clauses?

Relative clauses with who, which, that as subject pronoun can be replaced with a participle. This makes
the sentence shorter and easier to understand.

I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the woman living next door.
Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on the roof?
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Relative Clauses

1) Choose the correct relative pronoun.

1) A castle is a place ………………………… a king or queen lives.
2) An actress is a woman ……………………………… plays in films or theatre plays.
3) This is the girl ……………………………… mother is from Canada.
4) This is the time of the year ………………………………… many people suffer from hay fever.
5) The flowers …………………………… grow in the garden are beautiful.
6) This is the picture ………………………………… Jane painted.
7) Do you know the man ……………………………… is speaking on the phone?
8) We ate the sweets ……………………………… my mother had bought.
9) Is this the boy ………………………………… plays the piano?
10) This is the house ……………………………………… was broken into.
11) This is the station ………………………………… Emily met James.
12) July and August are the months ………………………………… most people go on holiday.
13) Do you know the reason ………………………………… so many people in the world learn English?
14) This is the church ………………………………… Sue and Peter got married.
15) Edinburgh is the town ………………………………… Alexander Graham Bell was born.
16) 25 December is the day ………………………… children in Great Britain get their Christmas presents.
17) A famine was the reason ………… so many Irish people emigrated to the USA in the 19th century.
18) A greengrocer's is a shop ………………………………… you can buy vegetables.
19) The day ………………………………… I arrived was very nice.
20) A horror film was the reason ………………………………… I couldn't sleep last night.

2) Combine the sentences using relative clauses.

1) We spent our holiday in Scotland last year. Scotland is in the north of Great Britain.
2) People live in Scotland. They are called Scots.
3) We first went to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland.
4) Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh. He wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories.
5) Then we visited a lake. It is in the Highlands.
6) Loch Ness is 37 km long. People know it for its friendly monster.
7) There we met an old man. He told us that he had seen Nessie.
8) We then travelled to a mountain. The mountain is near the town of Fort William.
9) The mountain is the highest mountain in Great Britain. It is called Ben Nevis.
10) I sent you a postcard. It was written on the summit of Ben Nevis.
11) We bought a car last week. The car is blue. The car…
12) The girl is a singer. We met her at the party.
13) The bananas are on the table. George bought them.
14) We watched a film last night. It was really scary.
15) My flat is in an old part of the city. It was built in the 1920s.
16) There are lots of bars and restaurants in the neighbourhood. I live in the neighbourhood.
17) My neighbour comes from Ecuador. He works on the fruit farms around the city.
18) The neighbour makes a lot of noise walking around. His flat is above mine.
19) The traffic is also very noisy. It passes my flat.
20) The local market sells excellent local produce. It is a two-minute walk from my flat.