WHAT IS A RELATIVE CLAUSE?

RELATIVE CLAUSES BEGIN WITH

THESE WORDS :

who whichthat
whose whom where
when
A RELATIVE CLAUSE (ALSO
CALLED ADJECTIVE
CLAUSE) IS A SUBORDINATE
CLAUSE
THAT GIVES INFORMATION
ABOUT A NOUN (SUBJECT
OR OBJECT) IN THE MAIN
CLAUSE.
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SENTENCES
WITH RELATIVE CLAUSES:

She’s the writer who won the Booker Prize this year.
He wore the tie that I gave him to the party.

I asked the person whose car is blocking my driveway

to move it.
The girl whom he finally married is Danish.

Spring is the time when the trees blossom.

Egypt is where the pyramids are.
She was very upset, which is understandable
 IF YOUR INFORMATION
PERTAINS TO A PERSON OR
PEOPLE, USE WHO.
• That’s the man who mugged me.
The girl who came to the door had long
red braids.
People who want to do business in Asia
need to learn Asian Languages.
YOU CAN USE THAT OR WHICH TO REFER
TO THINGS.

I LOVE THE TREE THAT (OR WHICH)

GROWS OUTSIDE MY WINDOW.

THE BOOK THAT (OR WHICH) YOU GAVE

ME IS GREAT!
USE WHOSE TO EXPRESS
POSSESSIVES WHEN THEY
REFER TO A PERSON.

• The person whose wallet I found must be

very worried.

• The people whose homes were flooded

stayed in a shelter.
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF
RELATIVE CLAUSES:
ESSENTIAL (also called
RESTRICTIVE, IDENTIFYING,
NECESSARY)
and NONESSENTIAL (also called
NONRESTRICTIVE,
NONIDENTIFYING, OR
UNNECESSARY.
ESSENTIAL CLAUSES: RULES

• ESSENTIAL CLAUSES ARE NEVER SET OFF BY

COMMAS

• CLAUSES BEGINNING WITH THAT ARE

ALWAYS ESSENTIAL.
NONESSENTIAL CLAUSES: COMPARE THE
FOLLOWING EXAMPLES:
My Aunt Mary, who lives in Vancouver, has five
children.
My Aunt Mary has five children.
• In the first sentence, we learn some extra information
about Mary, but it is not necessary. If we drop the clause,
we get the main idea the speaker wanted to convey.
• My Aunt Mary who lives in Vancouver has five children.
• If you drop the commas from the first sentence, it suggests
that the speaker has two aunts named Mary, one of whom
lives in Vancouver.
She was very shaken up by the
accident, which was understandable.
.

 In this sentence, the nonessential clause gives

information about the entire main clause.
 Note that only one comma is used in this situation.
NON ESSENTIAL
NON ESSENTIAL CLAUSES:
CLAUSES:
RULES
RULES
NONESSENTIALCLAUSES
•• NONESSENTIAL CLAUSESAREARE SET
SET
APART FROM
APART FROM THE
THE MAIN
MAIN CLAUSE
CLAUSE
BYCOMMAS.
BY COMMAS. ONLY
ONLYONE
ONE COMMA
COMMAIS IS
NEEDED IF
NEEDED IFTHE
THE CLAUSE
CLAUSE ISISAT
ATTHE
THE
END OF
END OFTHE
THE SENTENCE.
SENTENCE.
YOU CANNOT
•• YOU CANNOT USEUSE THE
THE WORD
WORD THAT
THAT
ATTHE
AT THE BEGINNING
BEGINNING OF
OFAA
NONESSENTIALCLAUSE.
NONESSENTIAL CLAUSE.
THIS POWERPOINT
PRESENTATION HAS BEEN
BROUGHT TO YOU
COURTESY OF YOUR
TEACHER,

CAROL LAKOFF