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Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Clauses

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121 views8 pages

Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Clauses

Uploaded by

vivianaapostolache134
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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RELATIVE CLAUSES – DEFINING AND NON-

DEFINING
Explanations » B2 Grammar Explanations » Relative clauses
– defining and non-defining

Exercises Explanation Course

Defining vs non-defining

There are two types of relative clauses,


defining and non-defining. In the grammar
chart below, you can see the main di!erences
between them.

Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns are the words that
introduce relative clauses. They can act as the
subject or the object of the relative clause.

Note that that can be used in informal


English instead of who/whom/which but it
is never used after commas, i.e. in non-
defining relative clauses, or after prepositions.

That’s the man who/that o!ered me the


job.
My mother’s older brother, who/that
lives in New York, is coming to visit.
That’s the house in which/that they
lived all their lives.

Which/that vs what

We use which/that as relative pronouns.


They refer back to a noun or sentence.

I gave her the letter which/that I had


been keeping since the war. (which/that=
the letter)
He o!ered to help us, which was a nice
gesture. (which= o!ering to help us)

We don’t use what as a relative pronoun. It


cannot be used to refer back to a sentence or
noun.

I gave her the letter what I had been


keeping since the war.
He o!ered to help us, what was a nice
gesture.

We use what independently to mean ‘the


thing/s that’.

I didn’t like what he did.= I didn’t like the


thing/s that he did.
What I don’t understand is why we are
here. (what= the thing that)

Prepositions in relative
clauses

When the relative pronoun is the


complement of a preposition, we can use the
preposition before the relative pronoun or at
the end of the relative clause.
Preposition + relative pronoun

It’s not very common to use prepositions


before relative pronouns, we just do it in
formal language.

He wrecked the car for which he had


paid a fortune.
He was a man for whom everybody had
great respect.

Note that after a preposition we can only


use the pronouns whom or which. We cannot
use who or that after a preposition.

We can also use whose after a preposition.

The team signed then the young


Maradona, in whose skills everybody
had their hopes.

Preposition at the end of the relative


clause

The most common position of the preposition


is at the end of the relative clause.

He wrecked the car for which he had


paid a fortune. (formal; not common)
He wrecked the car (which/that) he had
paid a fortune for. (more usual)

Relative adverbs
Relative adverbs introduce relative clauses,
just like relative pronouns, but in this case,
they are used to introduce information about
time (when), place (where), or reason (why).

Note that we can use a preposition + which


instead of a relative adverb, although this
structure is more formal and not as common.

The coach changed the time when the


players had to get up.
=The coach changed the time at which
the players had to get up.
The bench where they were sitting was
dirty.
=The bench on which they were sitting
was dirty.
Quantifier + of
which/whom

In non-defining relative clauses (=between


commas), we can use of which/whom after
a quantifier such as some, any, none, all,
both, several, enough, many and few.

Their daughters, both of whom are in


university, don’t visit them very often.
The students, none of whom had failed
the exam, were thrilled.
Their house was full of cats, most of
which had been found in the street.
Login
The two rooms, neither of which had
windows, were small and dirty.

We can also use a quantifier + of whose.

I belong to a reading club, most of


whose members are retired teachers.
The parents, some of whose children
were already grown-ups, marched down
the street.

Related tests:
Defining and non-defining relative
clauses

Cleft sentences – adding emphasis

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