RELATIVE CLAUSES

RELATIVE CLAUSES

DEFINING AND NON DEFINING

We use relative clauses to add additional information about the person or thing in a sentence. We form them using relative pronouns:

• who
• which
• that
• where

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

When the relative clause adds essential information to a sentence and we cannot understand the sentence without it, we call it a defining relative clause.

• It was the first public speech that she had made since the attack. (It was the first public speech...)

Here, we can see that the sentence does not make sense without the defining relative clause.

NONDEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

When the relative clause adds nonessential information to a sentence and we can still understand the sentence without it, we call it a nondefining relative clause.

• My friend, who is really clever, has a PhD in politics (My friend has a PhD in politics.)

Nondefining relative clauses are added to sentences using commas.

• Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who was fifteen years old at the time, was looking forward to her school day.

CLASS ACTIVITY (COMBINE)

DEFINING

The book is on the table. It has a red cover.

The girl is talking to my brother. Her name is Sarah.

NONDEFINING

My friend, Mary, is coming to the party. She just moved here.

The professor, Dr. Smith, is giving a lecture. He won an award last year.