Introduction to Relative Clauses

Anotacoes

Relative clauses are used to give additional information about a noun, such as a person, place or thing. Relative pronouns introduce a relative clause. They include who for people, that and which for things, when for time, and whose to show possession. Relative clauses belong to one of two categories: defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses. 1. Defining relative clauses add essential information to a sentence. The woman who found my wallet handed it in to reception. The student whose dog has run away has gone to look for it. These clauses give essential information about the subject of the sentence. They define the person, time or thing that we are talking about. If we remove the clause, the sentence does not make sense. 2. Non-defining relative clauses add extra information to a noun or noun phrase. My friend’s birthday, which was last weekend, was great fun.