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1. RC1.1 Introduction to relative
clauses: who, that and which
Lesson 1/8
The zebra is an animal that
lives in Africa.

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3. Relative Clauses
When we begin to learn English, we learn very basic
sentences. For example:
The girl is wearing glasses. Do you know the girl?
But, we can create more advanced sentences
using relative clauses.
The girl appears in both sentences, so we can use a relative
clause to make one sentence. Instead of repeating
the girl, we can replace the girl with who.
Do you know the girl who is wearing glasses?
This is a relative clause!

4. Relative Clauses
A relative clause or adjective clause can be used to join
two sentences or to give more information about something.
The girl is wearing glasses. Do you know the girl?
Do you know the girl who is wearing glasses?
Here, the relative clause provides information about the
noun, the girl.
We call it an adjective clause because just like an adjective it
gives information about a noun.

5. Here are some more relative clauses
Can you find: …the woman who is
applying sunscreen?
…the boy who is
building a snowman?
…the man who is
wearing three
watches?
…the animal that is
playing the guitar?
…the man who is
taking a nap?
Notice that we use who when we are describing people and
that when we are describing things.

6. Making a relative clause
Let’s combine these two sentences using a relative clause.
The man is tired. He has been working all day.
First, replace the pronoun he with the relative pronoun
who, because this is describing a person.
The man is tired. who has been working all day.
Now, we must put the relative clause after the noun it describes (the man).
The man who has been working all day is tired.

7. Relative pronouns and relative adverbs
Relative clauses are introduced by a relative pronoun, such
as who, that, whose, or a relative adverb, such as when,
where, why. The clauses always contain a verb.
A relative clause can be used to describe
a subject or an object.
Thomas ate the cake.
subject object
Thomas ate the cake that was on the table.
The relative clause is describing the object of the
sentence, the cake.

8. Relative pronouns and relative adverbs
The relative clause is describing the subject of the
sentence, Thomas.
Here, the relative clause describes the subject of the
sentence.
Thomas ate the cake.
subject object
Thomas, who was really hungry, ate the cake.

9. A rule for relative clauses
A relative clause always follows the noun it modifies.
Students who ask questions learn a lot more.
Which students learn more? Students who ask questions.
She wore the dress that I bought for her.
Which dress did she wear? The dress that I bought for her

10. Let’s learn some relative pronouns!
Who is used to describe people.
The man who is standing at the bus stop is my father.
That and which are used to describe things.
In general, that is preferred in North American English.
The book that is on the table belongs to me.
The book, which we talked about, is on sale this week.
Sometimes we also use that to describe people.
This is more informal.
The man that is standing at the bus stop is my father.

11. Time to practice
Can you combine the two sentences using a relative clause
with who or that? More than one answer may be possible.
1. I met a woman. She is a professor at the local university.
I met a woman who is a professor at the local university.
2. We bought a house. It is 100 years old.
3. She joined a gym. It is near her house.
4. The taxi driver was really nice. He drove me to the
airport.
5. We watched a movie. The movie was about a murder.

12. More practice…
Can you describe the following jobs using a relative clause?
For example: An architect is a person who designs buildings.
6. A fashion designer is a person .
7. An athlete is a person .
8. A mechanic is a person .
9. A pilot is a person .
10. A civil engineer is a person .

13. Who am I?
Read each scenario and guess the answer.
Use a relative clause in your answer.
11. I am a person who sells fruits and
vegetables.
12. I am a person who sells meat
products.
13. I am a person who takes care of sick
animals.
14. I am a person who grows food and
raises animals on farms.

14. Your turn…
Now think of a job and describe it using a relative clause.
This is a person who .
You can choose one of the following jobs or think of your own.
accountant, actor, author, baker,
carpenter, coach, dentist,
doctor, editor, engineer,
firefighter, journalist, judge,
lawyer, musician, nurse,
policeman, politician, teacher,
waiter

15. What am I?
Can you describe the following household items using a
relative clause?
15. A refrigerator is a thing .
16. A vacuum is a thing .
17. An oven is a thing .
18. A blender is a thing .
19. Knives, forks and spoons are things .
20. A coffee machine is a thing .

16. Which animal is this?
Now think of an animal and describe it using a relative clause.
This is an animal that .
Choose one of the following animals, or think of your own.
alligator, bear, bee, bird, cat,
chicken, cow, dog, duck,
elephant, fish, frog, giraffe,
horse, kangaroo, lion, monkey,
rabbit, shark, snake, spider,
turtle, zebra

17. Guess who?
Read the description with relative clauses.
Can you guess who it is?
This person, who was born in 1958,
has six brothers and sisters.
He is famous for singing songs that
are popular all over the world.
He was a great dancer who was
famous for the moonwalk.
This man, who is often called the
King of Pop, passed away in 2009.

18. Guess who?
Read the description with relative clauses.
Can you guess who it is?
This man, who was a strong advocate of
peace, was a leader of India’s
Independence Movement.
His belief that people should live simply
was an inspiration for many people.
This man who inspired many Nobel
Peace Prize winners, never received a
Nobel Peace Prize.

19. What is it?
Read the description with relative clauses.
Can you guess what it is?
This is something that gives
people energy.
This is something that many
people have in the morning
all throughout the world.
It is something that you can
have with or without milk and
sugar.

20. What is it?
Read the description with relative clauses.
Can you guess what it is?
This is something that went
on sale in 1983, and at that
time it cost almost $4000!
This is something that
people say they couldn’t live
without (and over 3 billion
people have).
This is something that makes
communicating much easier.