Relative Clauses Exercises

If you feel like doing a quick review on relative clauses before completing this practice, take a few
minutes to refresh on previous material. When you think you’re ready to begin, come back to this post
and make sure that you complete the exercises in the same order as they’re presented to you. This is
because the level of difficulty increases as you go along. Write down your answers on a piece of paper or
type them into a Word document, and once you’ve finished with all three tasks, scroll down to check
your answers. Let’s get started!

Relative clauses task 1

Choose the correct relative pronoun to complete the sentences. Note that some relative pronouns may
be used more than once. Then underline the two sentences where you may choose to leave out the
relative pronoun.

who which whose that where when

1. In the future, I would like to work with children, ___________ I’m quite good at.

2. The reason ___________ I stopped taking lessons is that I was struggling to make the school
payments on time.

3. The place we liked the most was Santa Teresa Beach, ___________ nature is still pretty much
untouched.

4. I was employed to be a data entry clerk, ___________ job is to input data into a computer from
forms.

5. I’ll never forget the day ___________ I lost my passport on the way to the airport.

6. When she got there, there were at least ten other people ___________ were also applying for
the job.

Relative clauses task 2

Combine the following simple sentences into one sentence by using relative clauses. Remember to use
correct punctuation.

1. I talked to many of my childhood friends at our high school reunion. I hadn’t seen them in years.

___________________________________________________________________________

2. She likes wearing expensive clothes. Her clothes are manufactured by famous brands.

___________________________________________________________________________

3. The position would give him some work experience in management. He doesn’t have any work
experience in management right now.

___________________________________________________________________________

4. I used to teach French to children. The children’s first language was English.
___________________________________________________________________________

5. I was asked to write an article on a complicated topic. I knew nothing about the topic.

___________________________________________________________________________

Relative clauses task 3

Improve the following paragraph by adding relative clauses where appropriate.

In my opinion, the excessive use of electronic devices such as tablets and cell phones can be detrimental
to children’s health. The games and apps found on these devices can easily become addictive. These
games and apps are mostly not educational. This often results in children spending less time on healthy
physical activities. This is particularly problematic for some children. These children are overweight. In
addition, the unsupervised use of electronic devices provides children with access to the internet and
social media platforms. Children can be exposed to inappropriate content and online predators on these
platforms.

Well done on finishing your relative clauses practice! Remember that grammar practice is important
because it helps you to notice correct patterns in the English language. So keep taking every opportunity
available to practice using different grammatical structures. Stay tuned for our next IELTS Grammar
Exercises post!

Answer Key

Answer key for relative clauses task 1

1. In the future, I would like to work with children, which I’m quite good at.

2. The reason that I stopped taking lessons is that I was struggling to make the school payments on
time.

3. The place we liked the most was Santa Teresa Beach, where nature is still pretty much
untouched.

4. I was initially employed to be a data entry clerk, whose job was to input data into a computer
from forms.

5. I’ll never forget the day when/that I lost my suitcase at the airport.

6. When she got to the building, there were at least 10 other people who/that were also applying
for the job.

Answer key for relative clauses task 2

1. I talked to many of my childhood friends, who/whom I hadn’t seen in years, at our high school
reunion.

2. She likes wearing expensive clothes which/that are manufactured by famous brands.

3. The position would give him some work experience in management, which he doesn’t have right
now.
 4. I used to teach French to children whose first language was English.

5. I was asked to write an article on a complicated topic (that/which) I knew nothing about.

Model answer for Task 3*

In my opinion, the excessive use of electronic devices such as tablets and cell phones can be detrimental
to children’s health. The games and apps found on these devices, which are mostly not educational, can
easily become addictive. This often results in children spending less time on healthy physical activities,
which is particularly problematic for children who are overweight. In addition, the unsupervised use of
electronic devices provides children with access to the internet and social media platforms, where they
can be exposed to inappropriate content and online predators.

*As a model answer, this paragraph is intended as a guideline, but other variations of the same answer
are possible.