Grammar point: RELATIVE CLAUSES

1. RELATIVE CLAUSES

2. TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES
• DEFINING – They give NECESSARY
information and is ESSENTIAL to the meaning
of the main sentence.
– He is the actor who was killed in a car crash.
• NON-DEFINING – They give EXTRA
information and is NOT ESSENTIAL to the
meaning of the main sentence.
– John, who was very lazy, failed the test again.

3. DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
• RELATIVE PRONOUNS:
– Who / that (people)
– Which / that (things)
– Whose (possession)
– When (time)
– Where (place)
– Why (reason)
– What (= “the thing that”)

4. DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
• Defining relative clauses ARE NOT put in
commas.
• Who / which / that CAN BE OMITTED when
they are the object of the relative clause.
– That is the letter (which/that) Helen sent me.
• Whose / where / when / why / what ARE NOT
NORMALLY OMITTED even if they are the
object of the relative clause.
– That is the hotel where the President is staying.

5. NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
• RELATIVE PRONOUNS:
– Who (people)
– Which (things)
– Whose (possession)
– When (time)
– Where (place)
– Why (reason)
– What (= “the thing that”)

6. NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
• Non-Defining relative clauses ARE PUT in
commas.
• The relative pronouns CAN NOT BE OMITTED.
– John, who is very lazy, failed his test again.

7. PREPOSITIONS IN RELATIVE CLAUSES
• We normally avoid putting prepositions BEFORE relative
pronouns.
• If we use a preposition, the relative pronoun WHO changes to
WHOM (formal):
– That’s the boy with whom I shared the room.
• It is less formal to use WHO/THAT and place the preposition
at the end of the sentence:
• That’s the boy who/that I shared the room WITH.

8. WHAT = “the thing that”
• WHAT can be used as:
– SUBJECT
– OBJECT or
– To EMPHASIZE a word or phrase
• He didn’t do WHAT I told him.

13. Thank You!