Relative clauses

1. Defining relative clauses (DRC)

lQualify a noun and tells us exactly who or what is being

talked about.

Politicians who tell lies are odious.

 lMore common in the spoken language
We make no pause when speak; no commas when we write

lWe can leave out the relative pronoun if it is the object of the relative clause

Did you like the present (   ) I gave you?

lCannot leave out the relative pronoun if it is the subject of
the clause

I’ll lend you the book that changed my life.

2. Non-defining relative clauses (NDRC)

lAdd secondary information to a sentence
Politicians, who tell lies, are odious.

lMore common in the written language

lThere are commas before and after relative clauses and

pauses when we speak

lRelative pronouns cannot be left out of NRD clauses

- Relative pronoun as subject

His last book, which received a lot of praise, has been a

great success.

- Relative pronoun as object

His last book, which I couldn’t understand at all, has been a

great success.

Relative pronouns:

lWho – for persons

lWhat – for things

lThat - for both persons and things; is preferred to which

after superlatives, words such as all, every(thing),

some(thing), any(thing) and only.

lWhose – expresses possession

lWhen – refers to time

lWhere – refers to place

lWhy – when means the reason why