RELATIVE CLAUSE

Relative clauses

What is a relative clause?

We can use relative clauses to join two English sentences, or to give more information about something.

I bought a new car. It is very fast.
→ I bought a new car that is very fast.

She lives in New York. She likes living in New York.
→ She lives in New York, which she likes.

                            

Defining and Non-defining

A defining relative clause tells which noun we are talking about:

• I like the woman who lives next door.
  (If I don't say 'who lives next door', then we don't know which woman I mean).

A non-defining relative clause gives us extra information about something. We don't need this information to understand the sentence.

• I live in London, which has some fantastic parks.
  (Everybody knows where London is, so 'which has some fantastic parks' is extra information).

Defining relative clauses:

1: The relative pronoun is the subject:

First, let's consider when the relative pronoun is the subject of a defining relative clause.

We can use 'who', 'which' or 'that'. We use 'who' for people and 'which' for things. We can use 'that' for people or things.

The relative clause can come after the subject or the object of the sentence. We can't drop the relative pronoun.

For example (clause after the object of the sentence):

• I'm looking for a secretary who / that can use a computer well.
• She has a son who / that is a doctor.
• We bought a house which / that is 200 years old.
• I sent a letter which / that arrived three weeks later.

More examples (clause after the subject of the sentence):

• The people who / that live on the island are very friendly.
• The man who / that phoned is my brother.
• The camera which / that costs £100 is over there.
• The house which / that belongs to Julie is in London.

2: The relative pronoun is the object:

Next, let's talk about when the relative pronoun is the object of the clause. In this case we can drop the relative pronoun if we want to. Again, the clause can come after the subject or the object of the sentence. Here are some examples:

(Clause after the object)

• She loves the chocolate (which / that) I bought.
• We went to the village (which / that) Lucy recommended.
• John met a woman (whom / that) I had been to school with.
• The police arrested a man (whom / that) Jill worked with.

(Clause after the subject)

• The bike (which / that) I loved was stolen.
• The university (which / that) she likes is famous.
• The woman (whom / that) my brother loves is from Mexico.
• The doctor (whom / that) my grandmother liked lives in New York.

Non-defining relative clauses:

We don't use 'that' in non-defining relative clauses, so we need to use 'which' if the pronoun refers to a thing, and 'who' if it refers to a person. We can't drop the relative pronoun in this kind of clause, even if the relative pronoun is the subject of the clause.

(Clause comes after the subject)

• My boss, who is very nice, lives in Manchester.
• My sister, who I live with, knows a lot about cars.
• My bicycle, which I've had for more than ten years, is falling apart.
• My mother's house, which I grew up in, is very small.

(Clause comes after the object)

• Yesterday I called our friend Julie, who lives in New York.
• The photographer called to the Queen, who looked annoyed.
• Last week I bought a new computer, which I don't like now.
• I really love the new Chinese restaurant, which we went to last night.

Whose

'Whose' is always the subject of the relative clause and can't be left out. It replaces a possessive. It can be used for people and things.

The dog is over there. The dog's / its owner lives next door.
→ The dog whose owner lives next door is over there.

The little girl is sad. The little girl's / her doll was lost.
→ The little girl whose doll was lost is sad.

The woman is coming tonight. Her car is a BMW.
→ The woman whose car is a BMW is coming tonight.

The house belongs to me. Its roof is very old.
→ The house whose roof is old belongs to me.

Where / when / why

We can sometimes use these question words instead of relative pronouns and prepositions.

I live in a city. I study in the city.

→ I live in the city where I study.
→ I live in the city that / which I study in.
→ I live in the city in which I study.

The bar in Barcelona is still there. I met my wife in that bar.

→ The bar in Barcelona where I met my wife is still there.
→ The bar in Barcelona that / which I met my wife in is still there.
→ The bar in Barcelona in which I met my wife is still there.

The summer was long and hot. I graduated from university in the summer.

→ The summer when I graduated from university was long and hot.
→ The summer that / which I graduated from university in was long and hot.
→ The summer in which I graduated was long and hot.

Remember

We cannot write the defining clauses with commas, because they change the meaning of a sentence. Compare the following sentences.

The passengers who fastened their seat belts survived. (Which passengers survived? Only the pasengers wearing the seat belts.)

The passengers, who fastened their seat belts, survived. (Because all the passengers were wearing their seat belts, they survived.)

The students who did all the exercises succeeded. (Which students succeeded? Only the students doing all the exercises.)

The students, who did all the exercises, succeeded. (All students succeeded. Why? Because they did all the exercises.)

In spoken English we make pauses in sentences instead of commas.

Exercises

Make one sentence from the two short ones.

1.      They called a lawyer. The lawyer lived nearby.

2.      I sent an email to my brother. My brother lives in Australia.

3.      The customer liked the waitress. The waitress was very friendly.

4.      We broke the computer. The computer belonged to my father.

5.      I dropped a glass. The glass was new.

6.      She loves books. The books have happy endings.

7.      They live in a city. The city is in the north of England.

8.      The man is in the garden. The man is wearing a blue jumper.

9.      The girl works in a bank. The girl is from India.

10.  My sister has three children. My sister lives in Australia.

Choose the correct answer!

1 - The people ....... moved in next door seem very friendly

a.       who

b.      whom

c.       which

2 - The man ..... answered the phone was rather rude

a.       which

b.      that

c.       whom

3  - The man ....... interviewed you is the boss

a.       who

b.      whom

c.       which

4 - The man ....... house was robbed has still not been paid by the insurance company

a.       which

b.      that

c.       whose

5 - You should complain to the people ....... supplied it

a.       whom

b.      who

c.       which

6 - They arrested the man ...... was over the alcohol limit

a.       that

b.      which

c.       whom

7 - The men, ....... were in a hurry, didn't finish the job properly

a.       whom

b.      who

c.       which

8 - Two guys, ....... car had broken down, asked me for a lift

a.       whose

b.      whom

c.       which

9 - The boy ....... bag was stolen is over there

a.       which

b.      that

c.       whose

 10 - The boxer ...... career was ruined by health problems was on TV last night

a.       whose

b.      whom

c.       who