One of the most difficult aspects of grammar for many English learners is understanding when and how to use relative clauses. A relative clause is a clause that adds information about someone or something, and it usually begins with the words “who,” “whose,” “that” or “which.” For example, in the sentence “The man who lives next door is a doctor,” the relative clause is “who lives next door.”
The man is the subject of the sentence, and we are adding information about him with the relative clause.
If you’re new to learning English, or if you want to brush up on your grammar skills, this guide will show you how to use relative clauses. Relative clauses are a type of clause that modify or describe a noun in a sentence. For example, the sentence “I live in a house that my parents built” has a relative clause (“that my parents built”), which modifies the noun “house.”
Relative clauses can be tricky to use, but with a little practice, you’ll be using them like a native speaker in no time! Here are some tips:
1. Make sure the relative pronoun agrees with the noun it’s modifying.
In other words, if the noun is singular, use “who,” “that,” or “which;” if the noun is plural, use “whose,” “those,” or “whom.” For example:
The girl who/that/which lives next door is my best friend.
(singular)
The girls whose/those/whoms parents work at the same company are in my class. (plural)
Remember: If the pronoun is the subject of the relative clause, use “who” or “that;” if it’s the object of the verb in the relative clause, use whom,” and so on.
2. Don’t forget to include a comma when introducing a relative clause unless it’s very short and simple. For example:
My sister Mary, who lives in New York City , is visiting me this weekend .
In this sentence, both commas are necessary; without them,the meaning changes completely! Omittingthe first comma would suggest that I have more than one sister named Mary , while omittingthe second comma would imply that my sister doesn’t live in New York City .
3. Be careful not to make your sentences too long and complicated by stringing together too manyrelative clauses . It’s often better tomake two shorter sentences rather than one very long , convoluted one .
following these tips , using relative clauses will become easy and second nature !
RELATIVE PRONOUNS | RELATIVE CLAUSES | ADJECTIVE CLAUSES – who, which, that, whose, whom
What are the Rules of Using Relative Clause?
There are a few key rules to remember when using relative clauses. First, the relative pronoun must agree with the noun it is referring to in gender and number. For example, if the noun is “girl,” the pronoun must be “she” or “her.”
If the noun is plural, such as “girls,” then the pronoun must be plural as well (i.e., “they,” “them,” etc.).
Second, relative clauses must be placed as close to the noun they modify as possible. This means that if there is more than one modifier, the relative clause should come after any adjectives and before any prepositional phrases.
For example:
The big red house on Main Street burned down last night.
becomes
The house that was big and red and on Main Street burned down last night.
If we move the relative clause too far away from its antecedent, it can become confusing for readers:
The house on Main Street that was big and red burned down last night.
Third, watch out for ambiguous antecedents! An antecedent is simply the noun being referred to by a pronoun or other type of reference word (such as a demonstrative adjective). A sentence can often become unclear if there are two potential antecedents:
John told his brother that he needed help with his car. In this sentence, it isn’t clear whether “he” refers to John or his brother – meaning that readers could interpret the meaning of the sentence differently than what was intended. To avoid this problem altogether, try to reword your sentence so that there is only one possible antecedent:
John told his brother he needed help with HIS car.
What are the 5 Relative Clauses?
A relative clause is a clause that modifies or adds information about a noun in a sentence. There are five main types of relative clauses: restrictive, nonrestrictive, adjective, appositive, and participial.
1. Restrictive relative clauses provide essential information about the noun they modify and cannot be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning.
For example:
The man who stole my purse is in jail. (Without the relative clause, we wouldn’t know which man is being talked about.)
2. Nonrestrictive relative clauses provide additional, nonessential information about the noun they modify and can be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning. For example:
My sister, who lives in New York, is coming to visit me next week.
(We still know which sister is being talked about even if we remove the relative clause.)
3. Adjectiverelative clauses describe or modify the noun they precede and usually come after that noun in a sentence. For example:
The novel, which was published last year, was very successful.
4. Appositiverelative clauses rename or restate the noun they precede and are typically found before that noun in a sentence. For example:
John F Kennedy Jr., who was born after his father became president, died tragically in a plane crash.
5 Participialrelative clauses modify verbs and usually come at the beginning of sentences followed by the subject of the sentence..
For example: Hoping to garner favor with his boss, John worked late into the night..
What are the 7 Types of Clauses?
There are seven different types of clauses that can be used in English Grammar. They are:
1) Independent Clauses
An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone as a sentence. It has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.
2) Dependent Clauses
A dependent clause is a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence. It must be attached to an independent clause in order to make sense.
3) Noun Clauses
A noun clause is a dependent clause that functions as a noun in the sentence. It will often begin with words such as “what,” “who,” or “that.”
4) Adjective Clauses
An adjective clause is a dependent clause that modifies (or describes) a noun or pronoun in the sentence. Like noun clauses, they will often begin with words such as “what,” “who,” or “that.”
5) Adverb Clauses
An adverb clause is a dependent clause that modifies (or describes) an adjective, verb, or other adverb in the sentence. They usually begin with words such as “when,” “where,” or “why.”
6) Relative Clauses 7), Non-Defining Relative Clauses; Defining Relative Clauses A relative clauses is type of dependent clauses which begins with a relative pronoun such as “who,” “whom,” “whose,” “which,” or “that.”
A non-defining relative clauses provides additional information about someone or something without defining it specifically; you could remove this type of relative clauses from the sentence without changing its meaning . Defining relative clauses give specific identify someone or something within the context of the rest of the sentence; if you removed this type from thesentence , it would change its meaning .
What are the 4 Types of Clauses?
A clause is a grammatical unit that consists of a subject and a predicate. There are four main types of clauses: independent, dependent, relative, and noun.
An independent clause (also known as a main clause) is a clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence.
It has a subject and a predicate, and it expresses a complete thought. For example:
I am going to the store.
This is an independent clause because it has both a subject (I) and a verb (am going), and it expressesthought (I am going to the store).
A dependent clause (also known as a subordinate clause) is a clause that cannot stand alone asa complete sentence; it must be attached to an independent clause in order to make sense. It hasa subject and predicate, but it does not express a complete thought.
For example:
While I was walkingto the store…
This is adependent clause because it does not expressa complete thought by itself—it’s missing anindependent clause to finish the thought(while I was walkingto the store,I sawa rabbit).
A dependent clauses often begins with words suchas while, since, until, if, when, before…etc.
A relativeclauseis acause that adds information about someone or something else in the sentence; typicallythey begin withthe words who, whose ,that ,whichor where .For Example : The womanwho wonthe marathon ran very fast .
ORThe pen which I bought yesterdayisn’t working now . They usually provide more information about people or things already mentionedin the sentence but they can also introduce new people or things .We can divide relative clausesinto two groups according to how important they are for understandingthe rest of thenoun phrase : non-definingand defining relative clauses .
Non-definingrelative clauses add extra information about someone or something without affectingthenoun phrase’s basic meaning ; we don’t need them for understanding what or whomthenoun phrase refers too : e.g.’The man who gave me directionswas very helpful ‘ Here we knowwhichmanwe’re talkingabout because there’s only one in thenounphrase –the one givingdirections-. However ,if we took out this non-definingrelativeclausethenoun phrasewould still have its basic meaning:’The man gave me directions ‘.
Credit: englishharmony.com
Relative Clauses Examples
A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause that contains a subject and a verb and provides additional information about the noun or pronoun in the main clause. Relative clauses can be adjective clauses, which describe the noun or pronoun, or adverb clauses, which modify the verb, adjective, or another adverb.
There are three types of relative clauses in English: defining, non-defining, and mixed.
Defining relative clauses give essential information about the noun or pronoun in order to identify it. They are not placed in commas. For example:
The man who came to fix my computer was very polite. (= I need this information to know which man you are talking about.)
Non-defining relative clauses give extra information about the noun or pronoun but they are not essential to identify it.
They are placed in commas. For example:
My sister, who is an engineer, is going to help me fix my computer.
(= You already know which sister I am talking about so this information is extra.)
Mixed relative clauses contain both essential and non-essential information about the noun or pronoun. The essential part of the sentence comes first followed by a comma then the non-essential part of the sentence.
For example:
The man who fixed my computer yesterday was very polite. (= This identifies which man I am talking about but extra information is given afterwards.)
There are four main ways to form relative clauses in English: with a relative pronoun (who/whom/whose/that/which), with a relative adverb (when/where), by leaving out the relative pronoun (known as contact Clauses), or by using an -ing form (gerund). Here are some examples:
I met a woman on holiday who could speak seven languages fluently. (= Who refers back to woman.)
Do you remember when we went out for dinner together? (= When refers back to went out.)
The hotel where we stayed was very comfortable. (= Where refers back to stayed)
The person responsible for booking our tickets forgot our names!
Types of Relative Clauses Pdf
There are three types of relative clauses in English: restrictive, non-restrictive, and participial. Each type has a different function in a sentence.
A restrictive clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence; without it, the sentence would be incomplete.
A non-restrictive clause, on the other hand, is not essential to the meaning of the sentence; it can be removed without changing the basic meaning of the sentence. Participial clauses are a special type of relative clause that use a present or past participle instead of a pronoun.
Here are some examples of each type of relative clause:
Restrictive: The book that I’m reading is about history. (Without the relative clause “that I’m reading,” this sentence would simply mean “The book is about history.” The relative clause provides essential information about which book we are talking about.)
Non-restrictive: My favorite novel, which was written by J.D. Salinger, is Catcher in the Rye . (Without the relative clause “which was written by J.D. Salinger,” this sentence would still convey its basic meaning: “My favorite novel is Catcher in the Rye .” The non-restrictive clause provides additional information about my favorite novel.)
Participial: The man walking down the street is my husband . (In this example, “walking” is a present participle and “downthe street” functions as an adverb phrase modifying “walking.” Together they form a participial phrase which acts as a adjectival phrase modifying “man.”
Relative Clause Grammar
A relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun or pronoun. Relative clauses are usually introduced by a relative pronoun, such as who, that, which, where, when, and why. For example:
The man who was standing on the corner is my friend.
The house that we live in is for sale.
I was born in the year when the Berlin Wall fell.
Relative clauses can be either restrictive or nonrestrictive. A restrictive relative clause provides information that is essential to identify the noun it modify. A nonrestrictive relative clause provides information that is not essential to identify the noun it modifies.
For example:
The man who was standing on the corner is my friend. (restrictive)
This is the house that we live in. (nonrestrictive)
Restrictive relative clauses are not set off by commas while nonrestrictive ones are.
Consider this example:
My friend who lives in New York is coming to visit me next week. (restrictive)
My friend, who lives in New York, is coming to visit me next week.(nonrestrictive)
It’s important to note that if a sentence has no commas around a relative clause, you should assume it’s restrictive unless there’s some other clear indication that it’s nonrestrictive (such as an introductory word like “however”).
Relative Clause Examples With Answers
Relative clauses are one of the most important parts of English grammar. They are used to give extra information about something without starting a new sentence. For example, if you wanted to say “The dog that I saw was big”, you would use a relative clause.
Here, “that I saw” is the relative clause which gives us more information about the dog.
There are three main types of relative clauses in English – defining, non-defining and reduced. In this blog post, we will look at each type in detail and provide some examples with answers.
Defining Relative Clauses:
A defining relative clause provides essential information about the noun it refers to. It defines or identifies the noun as being a particular thing.
For example:
The man who stole my purse is in jail now. (=I know there are other men, but I am only talking about the one who stole my purse)
The house that we bought was very old. (= There are other houses but we only bought this one)
Notice that in both these examples, we can remove the relative clause and still have a sentence which makes sense:
The man is in jail now.
Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are words that introduce relative clauses. A relative clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb that adds information about someone or something mentioned in the sentence. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, where, when, and why.
We use relative pronouns to join two clauses together. The first clause usually contains the person or thing that we want to talk about:
The man _____ I met yesterday was very friendly.
The second clause provides more information about the person or thing:
The man who I met yesterday was very friendly.
So what exactly are relative pronouns and how do you use them?
Let’s take a closer look.
A relative pronoun is a word that introduces a dependent clause and connects it to an independent clause. Relative pronouns can be divided into two categories: restrictive and non-restrictive.
We use restrictive relatives to identify which person or thing we’re talking about by providing specific information about them. Non-restrictive relatives provide additional information about someone or something without identifying them specifically.
There are seven common relative pronouns: who/whose/whom, which/that, where, when, why, and whatever/whenever/wherever.
Let’s break these down one by one so you can get a better understanding of how they work in sentences.
Who/Whose/Whom – These words are used to refer to people (or animals with human characteristics). They can be used as either singular or plural nouns .
Which/That – These words are used to refer to things (or animals without human characteristics). They can be either singular or plural .
Where – This word refers to locations , places , or points in time . It cannot be used for people or things .
When – This word refers only to points in time . It cannot be used for people or things .
Why – This word is typically only used at the beginning of questions . It cannot be used for people or things .
Whatever/Whenever/Wherever – These words can be either singular or plural and they don’t necessarily have to refer to anything specific . You’ll often see them used informally as well (‘I’m up for whatever tonight’).
Relative Clause Pdf
A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause that modifies a noun or pronoun. Relative clauses are also known as adjective Clauses. The word which, that, and who(m) are used to introduce a relative clause.
Relative clauses add information to sentences. They can be essential ( necessary) or nonessential (not necessary). An essential relative clause cannot be removed from a sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence.
A nonessential relative clause provides additional information that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence; it can be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning
Here is an example:
The poet whom we studied in class was Langston Hughes.
The poet, Langston Hughes, was born in 1902.
The poet who was born in 1902 was Langston Hughes.
10 Examples of Relative Clause
In grammar, a relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun or pronoun. Relative clauses are also called adjective clauses because they describe the nouns or pronouns. For example, in the sentence “The cat that slept on the mat was lazy,” the relative clause is “that slept on the mat.”
The word “that” is the relative pronoun and “slept on the mat” is the relative clause.
There are three types of relative clauses: restrictive, non-restrictive, and appositive.
A restrictive relative clause provides information that is essential to identify which person or thing is being talked about.
In our example sentence above, “that slept on the mat” is a restrictive relative clause because it helps us identify which cat is being talked about (the one that was sleeping on the mat). If we removed this relative clause from our sentence, it would be difficult to know which cat we were talking about.
A non-restrictiverelative clause provides additional information about a person or thing but it is not essential to identify which person or thing is being talked about.
In our example sentence above, we could add a non-restrictiverelative clause such as “which was black.” Even if we didn’t include this extra information about the color of the cat, we would still be able to identify which cat we were talking about because of the other restrictiverelative clause (“that slept on the mat”). Non-restrictiverelative clauses are usually set off by commas before and after them.
An appositiveis a word or phrase that renames another word or phrase in order to provide more information about it. An appositive can be either restrictiveor non-restrictive—it just depends on whether or not you need that extra bit of information in order to understand which person or thing is being talked about. In our example sentence above, if we wanted to rename “the cat” with an appositive, we could say “The animal,a cat,” where “a cat” functions as an appositiveto provide more information about “the animal.”
Relative Clause Examples With Answers Pdf
A relative clause is a type of subordinate clause that modifies a noun or pronoun. Relative clauses are also known as adjective clauses because they function as adjectives in a sentence. For example, the relative clause in the sentence “The dog that barks all night is driving me crazy” modifies the noun “dog.”
There are three main types of relative clauses: restrictive, nonrestrictive, and appositive. Restrictive clauses are essential to the meaning of a sentence; without them, the sentence would be incomplete. Nonrestrictive clauses provide additional information about a noun or pronoun but are not essential to the meaning of a sentence.
Appositive clauses rename or identify a noun or pronoun and are always placed immediately after it.
Here are some examples of each type of relative clause:
Restrictive: The car that hit me was going too fast.
(Without the relative clause, we wouldn’t know which car hit the speaker.)
Nonrestrictive: My sister, who is an engineer, is coming to visit tomorrow. (We already know which sister is visiting, so the relative clause merely provides additional information about her.)
Appositive: James Joyce, an Irish author famous for his experimental style, wrote Ulysses .
Conclusion
Relative clauses are an important part of English grammar, and can be a bit confusing for learners. This guide will explain what relative clauses are, how to use them, and some common mistakes to avoid.
A relative clause is a clause that is used to modify a noun or pronoun.
For example, in the sentence “The man who stole my purse is in jail,” the relative clause “who stole my purse” modifies the noun “man.” Relative clauses can be essential to understanding the meaning of a sentence, or they can simply be used to add more information about something.
There are two types of relative clauses: restrictive and non-restrictive.
A restrictive clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence; without it, the sentence would not make sense. For example, in the sentence “The man who stole my purse is in jail,” we need the relative clause “who stole my purse” in order to know which man we’re talking about – otherwise, there could be any number of men who fit that description. Non-restrictive clauses, on the other hand, are not essential to understanding the meaning of a sentence; they just provide additional information.
For example, in the sentence “My brother John, who lives in New York City, is coming to visit me next week,” the relative clause “who lives in New York City” provides additional information about John but isn’t necessary for understanding that he’s my brother and he’s coming to visit me next week.
When using relative clauses, there are a few things to keep in mind:
• Make sure that your pronoun agreement is correct – if you’re referring to a singular noun with he/she/it pronouns (as in our first example), make sure that your verbs agree (e.g., The man who stolemy purseisin jail).
If you’re referringto plural nounswiththeypronouns(asin our secondexample),againmaketheyourverbsagree(e.g., MybrotherJohnandhiswifearecomingtovisitmenextweek).
• Use commas correctly – as we saw above, non-restrictiverelativeclausesareusuallysetoffbyacomma(ortwoifthey’reparticularlylong).
