RELATIVE CLAUSES: TENTH GRADE

We use relative clauses to add information about the subject or object of a sentence. Relative clauses are introduced with words like: “who”, “that”, “which”, “where”, “when” and “whose”

We use “who” or “that” to people. He’s the man who/that wrote the article.

We use “which” or “that” to refer to things. The newspaper which / that gives the best news is The Daily News.

We use “where” to refer to places. That’s the building where my sister works.

We use “when” for time. 1988 was the year when I got married.

We use “whose” to refer to possession. She’s the woman whose house got destroyed in the flood.

A defining relative clause gives essential information about the thing or person we are talking about. In this case we do not use a comma. The man who works in this office is very intelligent. (= I’m talking about the only man who works in this office)

A non-defining relative clause gives information that is simply additional about the thing or person we are talking about. The extra information is between commas. The man, who works in this office, is very intelligent. (= I’m talking about an intelligent man and adding the non- essential information that he works in this office.)

LET’S EXERCISE.

Change the following sentences. I gave my wife a fur coat for her birthday. This pleased her a lot. _______________________________________________. 2. I decided not to travel that day. This was extremely lucky because the train crashed. 3. He passed all his examinations. This made his parents very proud of him. 4. He tried to explain his extraordinary behaviour. This made everybody laugh.

5. He refused to speak to her. This made her very angry. _________________________________________________. 6. He promised to lend me the money. That is why I was profoundly thankful. 7. Joan wouldn’t let her children go to the cinema. This didn’t surprise me at all considering the film that was on. 8. They have decided to stay at home. This, I think, is the wisest course. 9. She told them they were all fools. They replied to this with angry cries. ________________________________________________.

10. My neighbour is very friendly. He is a doctor. (who) ________________________________________________. 11. Our house is by the sea. It is 200 years old. (which) 12. Jack is very popular. His friends call him Jacko. (whose) 13. Mandy loves animals. She wants to be a vet. (who) 14. Dan Brown’s last book was very good. I really enjoyed it. (which)

15. Bulgaria is a beautiful country. I went there last summer. ________________________________________________. 16. Her book was published last year. It became a best seller. (which) 17. This is Mr. Smith. His son Bill plays in our team. (whose) 18. This is the bank. We borrow money from it. (which) 19. Jack’s car has broken down. He had to take a bus. (whose)