Defining relative clauses. For more English tutorials, please visit: https://www.thelecturette.com

1. Defining Relative Clauses

2. Defining Relative Clauses
You use defining relative clauses to give
information that helps to identify the person or
thing you are talking about.
The man who you met yesterday was my
brother.
The car which crashed into me belonged to
Paul.

3. Defining Relative Clauses
When you are talking about people, you use
‘that’ or ‘who’ in the relative clause.
He was the man that bought my house.
You are the only person here who knows me.

4. Defining Relative Clauses
When you are talking about things, you use
‘that’ or ‘which’ in the relative clause.
There was ice cream that Mum had made
herself.
I will tell you the first thing which I can
remember.

5. Defining Relative Clauses
‘That’, ‘who’, or ‘which’ can be:
• the subject of the verb in a relative clause
The thing that really surprised me was his
attitude.
The woman who lives next door is very friendly.
The car which caused the accident drove off.

6. Defining Relative Clauses
‘That’, ‘who’, or ‘which’ can also be:
• The object of the verb in the relative clause
The thing that I really liked about it was its size.
The woman who you met yesterday lives next
door.
The car which I wanted to buy was not for sale.

7. Defining Relative Clauses
In formal English, ‘whom’ is used instead of
‘who’ as the object of the verb in the relative
clause.
She was a woman whom I greatly respected.

8. Defining Relative Clauses
You can leave out ‘that’, who’, or ‘which’ when
they are the object of the verb in the relative
clause.
The woman you met yesterday lives next door.
The car I wanted to buy was not for sale.
The thing I really liked about it was its size.

9. Defining Relative Clauses
WARNING: You cannot leave out ‘that’, ‘who’, or
‘which’ when they are the subject of the verb in
the relative clause. For example, you say ‘The
woman who lives next door is very friendly’. You
do not say ‘The woman lives next door is very
friendly’.

10. Defining Relative Clauses
A relative pronoun in a relative clause can be
the object of a preposition. Usually the
preposition goes at the end of the clause.
I wanted to do the job which I’d been training
for.
The house that we lived in was huge.

11. Defining Relative Clauses
You can often omit a relative pronoun that is the
object of a preposition.
Angela was the only person I could talk to.
She’s the girl I sang the song for.

12. Defining Relative Clauses
The preposition always goes in front of ‘whom’
and in front of ‘which’ in formal English.
These are the people to whom Catherine was
referring.
He was asking questions to which there were no
answers.

13. Defining Relative Clauses
You use ‘whose’ in relative clauses to indicate
who something belongs to or relates to. You
normally use ‘whose’ for people, not for things.
A child whose mother had left him was crying
loudly.
We have only told the people whose work is
relevant to this project.

14. Defining Relative Clauses
You can use ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘why’ in
defining relative clauses after certain nouns. You
use ‘when’ after ‘time’, or time words such as
‘day’, or ‘year’. You use ‘where’ after ‘place’ or
place words such as ‘room’ or ‘street’. You use
‘why’ after ‘reason’.

15. Defining Relative Clauses
There had been a time when she hated all men.
This is the year when profits should increase.
He showed me the place where they work.
That was the room where I did my homework.
There are several reasons why we can’t do that.

16. Questions?
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