Non-defining relative clauses

Тема 1

Relative Clauses

Defining relative clauses

· Here is the book (which/that) I’ve bought.

· Here is the man who/that sold me the book.

The underlined phrases are relative clauses. The words in bold are relative pronouns. You use ‘which’ for things, ‘who’ for people and ‘that’ for both things and people.

You can omit a relative pronoun if it is followed immediately by a noun or a pronoun. You can’t omit it if it is followed by a verb.

The relative pronoun ‘whose’ shows possession:

· Peter Jones is a talented scientist whose ideas are very interesting.

A defining clause adds very important information that cannot be omitted. It is not separated by a comma.

Non-defining relative clauses

· Harrods, which is one of the most famous department stores in the world, is located in London.

· Charles Brown, who is the Sales Manager of the company, is going on business to France tomorrow.

A non-defining relative clause adds extra information and is separated by commas. In a non-defining relative clause you cannot omit ‘who’ or ‘which’. ‘That’ is not used in this type of clause.

Leave out ‘who’, ‘which’ or ‘that’ where possible and explain why:

1. I like the dress which my sister bought at this department store.

2. What is the name of the girl who is working at this shop?

3. I gave her all the money that I had.

4. The people who I talked to were very friendly.

5. Where is the money that was on the table?

5. Decide if the relative clauses are defining or non-defining, choose the correct pronoun and put commas where necessary:

1. Sam works for a company (who/which) makes clothes.

2. My brother told me about his new job (which/that) he is enjoying very much.

3. My office (which/whose) is on the second floor, is very small.

4. The office (that/where) we’re using at the moment is very small.

5. John (which/whose) car was stolen last week is very upset.