RELATIVE CLAUSES
OBJECTIVES:
understand the meaning of relative
clause
identify different types of relative clauses
complete the task given
But first let us recall…
The meaning of clause.
 A group of words used together that contains a verb
(remember I always refer to it as ‘a sentence in a big sentence’)
 Contains a subject and a verb.
 There are two types of clause
Types of Sentences
 3 general sentence types:
 Simple
Jack went up the hill.
 Compound
Jack fell down, and he broke his crown.
 Complex
When Jack fell down, he broke his crown.
READY?......
RELATIVE PRONOUN
 A pronoun that introduces relative clause.
 In other words, it is used to connect a clause or phrase
to a noun or pronoun.
 The clause that contains relative pronoun is called
relative clause and it modifies or describes the noun in
the main clause.
Relative Pronouns
Function in
the sentence
Reference to
People
Things / concepts
Subject
who, that
which, that
Object
(that, who, whom)*
(which, that)*
Possessive
whose
whose, of which
Place
Time
where
when
Reason
why
Examples
RELATIVE CLAUSES
 A clause that gives more information about the main clause
 Example:
I bought a new car. It is very fast.
 I bought a new car that is very fast.
She lives in Malaysia. She likes living in Malaysia.
 She lives in Malaysia, which she likes.
 https://youtu.be/Pr0qHd1KEMY
Types of Relative Clauses
 Defining relative clause
 Gives us important information which we need to understand the meaning of
the main clause.
 Comes immediately after the noun.
The chore which / that I hate the most is
the washing up.
 The sentence would not make sense without ‘which/that I hate
the most’.
 When we use Who/Whom/That/Which as the object in the defining relative
clause, we can omit the relative pronoun.
The chore which / that I hate the most is the
 Non-defining relative clause
 Gives extra information
 We do not need this information to understand the sentence.
 We must use commas to separate a non-defining relative clause.
Molly, who often gossips, doesn’t get along with
her peers.
 The sentence would still make sense without ‘who often gossips’.
 We cannot use ‘that’ in a non defining relative clause and we cannot omit
the relative pronoun.
Prepositions in relative clause
 Preposition usually comes at the end of the relative clause.
 They can be used before a relative pronoun,
but this will make the sentence sound formal.
His Mangas about Titan, for which he is famous, sell very
well. (VERY FORMAL)
His Mangas about Titan, which he is famous for, sell very
well. (MORE COMMON)
Prepositions in relative clause cont..
 We cannot use a preposition before who or that.
 We can use after whom, but that makes the sentence sound
very formal.
but this will make the sentence sound formal.
The woman who/that I was talking to is my wife.
The woman to whom I was talking is my wife.
(VERY FORMAL)
Be careful…
 When the preposition is before the relative pronoun, we cannot omit the relative
pronoun.
Is this the project which/that you won the price
for?
Is this the project you won the price for? (can be
omitted)
Is this the project for which you won the price?
(cannot be omitted)