This document discusses defining and non-defining relative clauses. Defining relative clauses provide essential information about the subject or object of the main clause. Non-defining clauses provide extra information and are separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. Relative pronouns like who, which, and that introduce relative clauses and their usage depends on whether the clause is defining or non-defining. The document also covers reduced relative clauses and the use of what in relative clauses.

1. RELATIVE CLAUSES
Defining & non-defining
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

2. What’s a relative clause?
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A relative clause gives us information about the
subject or object of a main clause.
This information could be necessary to
understand the message (defining), or could be
extra information and therefore not necessary
(non-defining)
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Ex. That is the museum which was built next to the
cathedral.
Ex. Salamanca, which is my hometown, is one of the
prettiest cities in the world.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

3. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
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WHO for people
WHOM for people but preceded by a
preposition (formal English)
WHICH for animals,things or ideas.
THAT for people, animals,things or ideas
(only in defining r. clauses)
WHOSE for possession and relationships
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

4. RELATIVE ADVERBS
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WHERE refers to places.(=in/at +which)
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WHEN refers to time.(= in/on + which)
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The house where you live is very beautiful.
Do you remember the day when we met?
WHY refers to reason.(=for +which)
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The reason why I didn’ t come was because I
didn’t feel OK.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

5. DEFINING RELATIVE
CLAUSES
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They are necessary to understand the
main clause.
They go just after the name they refer to,
called antedent.
They are introduced by a relative pronoun
or an adverb.
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EX. The woman who lives next door is a
famous writer.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

6. When do we use THAT?
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THAT can only be used in defining relative
clauses to replace a person, an animal or
a thing or idea. NEVER in non-defining c.
THAT cannot be used after a preposition.
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Ex. This is the house in which we lived.
THAT is preferred after a superlative.
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Ex. This is the prettiest girl that I have known.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

7. Leaving out the Relative Pronoun
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The pronoun in a relative clause can be the
subject or the object of the clause.
1.
2.
1.
2.
Ex. The man who lives next door is Brad Pitt.
Ex. The man who I met at the party is now my
husband.
When the relative pronoun is followed by a
verb, it works as the subject of the relative
clause and therefore, it CANNOT be omitted.
When the relative pronoun is followed by a
noun or a pronoun, followed by a verb, it works
as an object and it CAN be omitted.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

8. NON-DEFINING RELATIVE
CLAUSES
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They give us extra information about the subject or the
object of a main clause.
They are separated from the rest of the sentence by
commas.
The antecedent in these clauses is usually a proper noun
or it is accompanied by a possessive, the definite article
the or a demonstrative.
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If we remove the clause, the sentence still makes sense.
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Ex. My house, which is quite comfortable, needs decorating.
J.K. Rowling, who wrote Harry Potter’s books, had a hard life.
My car, which is red, is very small.
We never use THAT in non-defining relative clauses.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

9. PREPOSITIONS IN RELATIVE
CLAUSES
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We sometimes form a relative clause using verbs with
prepositions, such as apply for.
The position of the preposition is different in formal and
informal English :
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Ex. That is the job which I applied for. (informal)
Ex. Below are the details of the job for which I applied. ( formal)
As I’ve said before, you CANNOT use THAT after a
preposition.
Prepositions CANNOT be used in clauses beginning with
WHEN or WHERE.
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Ex. *This is the house where I used to live in.
This is the house where I used to live.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

10. REDUCED RELATIVE
CLAUSES
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We often make relative clauses shorter.
If the verb in the original relative clause is active, we use
the –ing form.
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If the verb is passive we use the –ed form.
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It’s a shop that sells designer jeans.
It’s a shop selling designer jeans.
It’s a novel which is based on a true story.
It’s a novel based on a true story.
We can only make clauses shorter when the noun we
are describing is the same as the subject of the relative
clause and NEVER if it is different.
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This is the photo of the hotel that we stay in every year.
*This is the photo of the hotel staying in every year.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

11. WHAT in Relative Clauses
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What is the result of the addition of the
antecedent and the relative pronoun in
one word. (=the thing(s) that).
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What you said was irrelevant.
(the thing that you said was irrelevant)
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We don’t include the noun in a clause
beginning with WHAT.
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*The thing what you said was irrelevant.
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013

12. The End
Mª Mercedes Sánchez Villafranca 2013