This is the shop where I bought my bike

Relative clauses

 

Relative clauses give us more information about something or someone in a sentence. They are not grammatically essential in a sentence.

 

Relative clauses start with relative pronouns and adverbs, which are used to define or refer back to the noun that precedes them.

 

The relative pronouns are who, that, which, whose, and whom. The relative adverbs are when and where. We use whom when it does not refer to the subject of the sentence but the object.

 

There are two types of relative clause:

  1. Defining
  2. Non-Defining

 

1. Defining relative clauses tell us the specific thing or person we are talking about in a sentence. Defining clauses are not separated by commas or brackets. Defining clauses provide important information about the noun we are talking about. The sentence’s meaning changes greatly if we remove a Defining relative clause.

  • The girl who invited me is not here yet.
  • The shoes that I bought were really expensive.
  • This is the woman whose dog saved me.

 

2. Non-Defining, provides more information about the noun we are talking about in the sentence. Unlike defining relative clauses, Non-Defining clauses are separated by commas or brackets. Non-Defining clauses can be removed from a sentence without affecting the meaning because they simply give us extra details.

  • My grandmother, who is 90 years old, lives alone in the countryside.
  • My new car, which I bought myself, is compact and good on gas.
  • Jucinda, whom I just met, is coming to our house for dinner.

 

We use who, whom, that, and whose to refer to people. We can not use that in Non-Defining clauses.

  • Do you remember that girl that I went to university with?
  • Do you know that girl who just started this class?
  • Do you remember Kylie, whose mother used to babysit me?
  • The little boy, whom I thought was homeless, is back again.

 

We use which, that, and whose to refer to things:

  • Can I have the book that I lent to you?
  • The heavy wind, which is not normal for this time of year, caused damage to our house.
  • I told you about this company, whose CEO personally wrote me a letter, the other day.

 

We use when and where to refer to time and place nouns:

  • It was just one of those days when everything goes wrong.
  • I am so excited to visit Germany, where Einstein was born, and Austria on our trip in the spring.