Relative Clauses

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are used to give additional information about something and to avoid starting a new sentence. They make your writing more fluent and less repetitive.

Relative pronouns

Here is a list of the different relative pronouns for adding information:

Relative pronoun	Adds description about…
Which	Things
Where	Places
Who	People
Whose	Possession for people and animals

How do we form relative clauses?

Rory is an English boy. He lives in Manchester.

Rory is an English boy WHO lives in Manchester.

*Sometimes we can miss out the relative pronoun if it is followed by a noun or pronoun:

E.g. Rory has a bike which Andrew likes.

OR

Rory has a bike Andrew likes.

Defining and non-defining relative clauses

Is the information essential or non-essential?

Compare these two sentences:

The house, which is on the top of the hill, has great views of the countryside. (Non-defining)

A footballer is someone who plays football professionally. (Defining)

*The non-defining clause needs commas around it and can be removed.

Go to these websites for more practice on relative clauses:

http://www.montsemorales.com/gramatica/RelativeBU4-7.htm

http://www.esltower.com/GRAMMARQUIZ/intermediate/relative%20pronoun.htm

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?02

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-9423.php

http://www.englishexercises.net/yywhowhich.html