Defining and Non-defining relative clauses, what they are, what they communicate, and how they work.

2. Well let's start with the obvious:
What on earth does "relative clause"
even mean?
Relative - this is what in Spanish you might call a
"pariente": aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents...
Clause - that part of any contract that you didn't
read before signing your life away to Satan.. or
some other eternal anguish.
Helpful?

4. The term relative clause is derived from
the use of a relative pronoun (aguántame, eh?).
Relative pronouns are:
who
that
which
Remember those little guys?
I like birds.
Some birds can be eaten.
(I'm talking about those birds, actually)
I like birds that can be eaten.

8. The relative clause, then,
is any piece of a sentence
that extends from a
relative pronoun who,
that or which.
People (who believe in Santa Claus)
are 3.61 times more likely to have a
happy Christmas, if, of course, Santa
doesn't totally blow them off.

9. Some relative clauses are necessary for a
piece of information to be clearly understood:
People (who) like
menudo will eat it
any opportunity they
get.
People will eat
menudo any
opportunity they
get.

10. Other relative clauses, while informative, are
not necessary for a piece of information to be
clearly understood:

11. The ones that are
necessary in order to be
clear are called:
DEFINING
relative clauses

12. The ones that are
necessary in order to be
clear are called:
DEFINING
relative clauses
My brother that works at the
Boom Boom club is coming
over this weekend.

13. The ones that are
necessary in order to be
clear are called:
DEFINING
relative clauses
My brother (that) works at the
Boom Boom club is coming
over this weekend.

14. The ones that are
necessary in order to be
clear are called:
DEFINING
relative clauses
My brother (that) works at the
Boom Boom club is coming
over this weekend.
The listener or reader will get the
impression that there is more than one brother,
because the sentence specifies which brother
(the one that works at Boom Boom).

15. The ones that are not
necessary in order to be
clear are called:
NON-DEFINING
relative clauses

16. The ones that are not
necessary in order to be
clear are called:
NON-DEFINING
relative clauses
My brother, who works at the
Boom Boom club, is coming
over this weekend.

17. The ones that are not
necessary in order to be
clear are called:
NON-DEFINING
relative clauses
My brother, (who) works at
the Boom Boom club, is
coming over this weekend.

18. The ones that are not
necessary in order to be
clear are called:
NON-DEFINING
relative clauses
My brother, (who) works at
the Boom Boom club, is
coming over this weekend.
The listener or reader will get the
impression that there is only one brother,
and that the Boom Boom Club is only
one random fact about him.

19. NON-DEFINING relative clauses are always between
commas:
My brother, (who) works at
the Boom Boom club, is
coming over this weekend.

20. NON-DEFINING relative clauses are always between
commas:
My brother, (who) works at the
Boom Boom club, is coming
over this weekend.
Chayotes, (which) some people like to
eat, are disgusting weeds from a
distant, haunted world.
Tractor mowers, (which) are quite
effective at cutting grass, sometimes
burst into flames, giving their owners
an
instant, terrifying, fiery death.

21. The boy, (that) was only six years
old, knew that the old man wasn’t
the real Santa…
You had better
remember that, if
you don’t want
Santa’s cousin,
Secundino, to visit
your house next
Christmas.