RELATIVE CLAUSES 1. Defining relative clauses These clauses identify which thing the speaker is talking about.

. They give important information about a person, a place or a thing. Without the relative clause the sentence would be incomplete. 2. Non-defining relative clauses These clauses add extra information about something which is already identified. We must put the relative clause between commas (or a comma and a full stop). We can say the sentence on its own without the relative clause. These clauses can be rather formal. We use them mainly in writing. E.g. Pam, who works with me, is a very nice person. E.g. The man, whom you met yesterday, was a colleague of mine. E.g. Dave hasnt arrived yet, which is very worrying. E.g. Palma, where I live, is the capital of Majorca. E.g. In 1998, when I moved to Paris, our situation was much better. E.g. My neighbour, whose daughter is Theresa, is a rude person.

Relative pronouns WHO: for people E.g. Pam is the girl who works with me. WHOM: for people when it refers to the object of a verb, after a preposition or very formal. E.g. The person whom the police were questioning was a thief. WHICH: for things E.g. There are some animals which are in danger. WHERE: for places E.g. Thats the restaurant where my mother works. WHEN: for times E.g. I remember a time when I was really happy. WHOSE: for possession E.g. Shes the woman whose car Tom crashed into. WHAT: to mean a thing or the things that. It gives emphasis. E.g. I dont know what to do. THAT: instead of who or which E.g. The woman that lived here before was an actress. Leaving out the relative pronoun Who, which and that can be omitted when the verbs in the main clause and the relative clause have a different subject. E.g. Shes the girl (who) I met last night. E.g. Thats an old castle (that) we visited. Prepositions A relative pronoun can be the object of a preposition. E.g. The bus Ive been waiting for. (Ive been waiting for the bus) E.g. The restaurant we go to. ( We go to the restaurant) We can write a preposition before the relative pronoun. E.g. Electronics is a subject about which I know very little. E.g. The manager is the person from whom I got the news. We cannot put a preposition before that or who.

You cannot use that instead of who or which. You cannot leave out the relative pronoun. E.g. The girl, who works in the TV series, earns a lot of money.

E.g. The bus, which Ive been waiting for, has broken down. E.g. The manager, the person from whom I got the news, is going to retire next year.