B2 Grammar: Relative clauses

Relative pronouns and relative clauses

                  relative clause

The man  who phoned you  is my doctor.

A clause is part of a sentence. Relative clauses start with these relative pronouns: who, which, that, whose, where, when and why.

Defining relative clauses

Relative clauses which tell you which person or thing the speaker is talking about are called defining relative clauses. They give essential information, e.g. The doctor who treated me is my cousin. The relative clause (underlined) tells us which doctor we are talking about.

Non-defining relative clauses

Relative clauses which give you extra information are called non-defining relative clauses: My doctor, who belongs to the same tennis club as you, vaccinated me yesterday. We already know which doctor (it’s my doctor); who belongs to the same tennis club as you, vaccinated me yesterday. We already know which doctor (it’s my doctor); who belongs to the same tennis club as you does not tell us which doctor we are talking about; it just adds extra information.

There are differences in grammar.

Defining relative clauses ·    Don’t have commas. ·    Use the following relative pronouns: who, which, whose, where, when, why. ·    That can be used instead of who or which. ·    Who, which or that can be omitted when they are the object of the clause: The medicine (which/that) the doctor gave me should be taken twice a day (the doctor is the subject and which/that the object of the clause).

Non-defining relative clauses ·    Use commas (or pauses in spoken English). ·    Use the following relative pronouns: who, which, whose, where, when, why. ·    Don’t use that. ·    The relative pronoun cannot be omitted.