Defining & Non-defining Clauses

RelativeClauses

Teacher JP

Non -defining

Defining

Teacher JP

Defining

Teacher JP

In defining relative clauses (which give essential information about a person, thing or place) we use the following relative pronouns.

Mes, 202X

who & that

to talk about people

This is the teacher who /that teaches my class.

which & that

to talk about things

Is this the laptop which/that you ordered?

where

to talk about places

We´re going to visit the school where my mom taught for 20 years.

The relative pronouns who, which and that usually come after the noun they refer to.

We can omit the relative pronouns who, which and that if they are followed by a personal pronoun or noun.

The school (that) we´d like is for everybody.

Examples:

I called my brother who lives in Canada.

I have more than one brother, and I called the one that lives in Canada.

That´s the mug which/that I bought in the market.

I didn´t know the man who/that was there.

We can omit the pronoun when it is followed by the subject + verb

Do you like the poem (which/that) I wrote?

That´s the man (who/that) I need to talk to.

VIDEO

Non-defining

Teacher JP

Non-defining relative clauses give additional information about a person, thing or place.

We use commas to separate a non-defining relative clause from the rest of the sentence.

Giant pandas, which are an endangered species, live in the mountains in central China.

We use who, which, where and whose (but not that) in non-defining relative clauses.

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Last year we visited our friends on the Aran islands, where you can see lots of bird species.

We can´t leave out the relative pronoun.

Examples:

My brother, who lives in Canada, is older.

I have only one brother and I´m just mentioning that he lives in Canada.

These bikes, which cost a fortune, are made in Japan.

We cannot use that!!

They introduced me to John, who I liked inmediately.

We cannot omit WHO/WHICH.

Thank you!

Teacher JP