A nice explanation of the Relative Clause. I hope you benefit and understand.

1. Relative Clause
L4

2. Relative
Clause

3. Independent vs Dependent Clause
• An Independent clause can
stand alone because it conveys
a complete thought or idea.
e.g.
• I like music.
• Ahmed writes stories.
• Dependent clauses can’t stand alone =>
incomplete thoughts
• Need to be linked to an independent clause to be
meaningful
• Use conjunctions like because, when, while,
before, after, or, although, and relative pronouns
like who, that, which, whose and whom to join
dependent clauses to independent clauses.
e.g.
I like music because it is relaxing.
‘I like music’ is independent because it has a complete idea.
‘because it is relaxing’ incomplete
It becomes fully meaningful only when it is attached to the
independent clause, ‘I like music’.

4. when he gets free time.
‘Ahmed writes stories’ => independent clause –complete idea
‘when he gets free time’=> dependent clause – incomplete
idea needs to be connected to an independent clause using
the conjunction ‘when’ to make it meaningful
Ahmed writes stories when he gets free time

5. • Underline the dependent clauses in the following sentences. Dependent clauses may be
placed after the subject as in example A or after the object as in example B .
• Example:
• A. The woman who sat next to me on the plane was from Canada.
• B. I like films that have good stories.
1. Penguins are birds that live in very cold places.
2. Ahmed has a friend who helps him in his studies.
3. The book that Ali gave me was about unusual people.
4. Barack Obama, whose father was from Kenya, was the President of the United States.
5. Hamed gave me some chocolate which was made in Switzerland.

6. Relative clause (dependent clause-adj clause)
• Relative clause = gives additional information.

8. Underline the relative pronouns in the following sentences.
e.g. The boy who is sitting next to me in the class is from Muscat.
1. The food that I ate from the hotel was delicious
2. Musandam, which is in the north of Oman, is very near to Iran.
3. This is Ahmed whose books were lost yesterday.
4. Salim, with whom I went to college, is in Britain now.
5. Ali Al Habsi is the footballer that led Oman in several international matches

9. Underline the mistakes in the following sentences and then rewrite them correctly.
1. Isaac Newton is the scientist which discovered the force of gravity.
Isaac Newton is the scientist who discovered the force of gravity.
2. This is the restaurant who sells traditional Omani food.
This is the restaurant which sells traditional Omani food.
3. Mr. Saif is the teacher which taught me English at School.
Mr. Saif is the teacher who taught me English at School.
4. Ahmed, which parents are teachers, always gets the best grades.
Ahmed, whose parents are teachers, always gets the best grades.
5. Rashid, with which I play football, got selected to the national team.
Rashid, with whom I play football, got selected to the national team.

10. Relative Clauses
• Relative clauses are used to give more information about the subject.
• They are adjective clauses because they are used to describe the people
or things that are referred to.
e.g.
• A. Food items that contain a lot of fat and sugar are called junk foods.
• B. Muneer, who lives in Sur now, was my best friend in college.

11. Relative Clauses (Defining and Non-Defining )
• Defining relative clauses
• are essential parts of the sentences that they contain.
• We cannot remove them without changing the meaning of the sentence.
e.g.
A. Children who don’t have healthy food are often sick.
(If we remove the relative clause, the sentence would mean that all children
are often sick.)
• B. Drivers who use mobile phones cause many accidents.
(If we remove the relative clause, the sentence would mean that all drivers
cause accidents.

12. Non defining relative clauses
• are not essential parts of the sentences they contain.
• They just add more information which is not integral to the sentence.
• They are usually placed between commas.
• We can remove them from the sentence without affecting the meaning of the
sentence.
e.g.
A. Muscat, which is on the coast of the Arabian Sea, is the capital of Oman.
(The removal of the relative clause won’t affect the main idea of the sentence.)
• B. Lionel Messi, who was born in Argentina, is one of the highest paid
footballers today.
(The removal of the relative clause won’t affect the meaning of the sentence.)

13. Study these sentences. Write ‘D’ for defining clause and ‘ND’ for non-
defining clause.
Example:
1. The boy who got the best marks lives in my village. D__
2. Dr. Muhammad, who lives in the next building, is a famous surgeon. ND
3. The computer that I bought yesterday needs some special software.
4. People who live in cities face a lot of pollution.
5. My friend David, who is from America, likes Omani food very much.
6. People who smoke cigarettes often suffer from lung cancer.
7. Charles Babbage, who was born is 1791, invented the first computer.in 1837.
D
D
D
ND
ND

14. Clause
Independent clause
(complete)
Dependent clause
(incomplete )
Relative Clause/Adj Clause
To connect: relative pronouns (who,
which, that, whose…)
Defining Relative Clause
(important info)
Non-Defining Relative Clause
(Not important)

15. Use the clues to complete the sentences with a suitable relative clause.
Example: Students ______________________(study hard) often get good marks.
Answer: Students who study hard often get good marks.
1. People _______________________________ ________(eat junk food) become obese fast.
People who eat junk food become obese fast.
2. Camels ________________________________________( win races) cost a lot of money.
Camels that /which win races cost a lot of money.
3. Scientists_____________________________________ (study the Earth) are called geologists.
Scientists who study the Earth are called geologists.
4. Cars __________________________________________ (burn fossil fuels) cause pollution.
Cars that / which burn fossil fuels cause a lot of pollution.
5. I like films ___________________________________________(have good stories)
I like films that / which have good stories.