Defining and Non-defining Relative Clauses

Exercises

Explanation

There are two main types of relative clauses:

- Defining Relative Clauses

- Non-defining Relative Clauses

1. Defining Relative Clauses

A defining (or essential) relative clause gives information that is necessary to understand which person or thing we are talking about. If we remove the clause, the sentence becomes unclear.

Important rule: No commas are used with defining clauses.

Relative pronouns used:

• People: who, that

• Things / animals: which, that

Examples:

• The student who lives in my dorm plays the violin.
  (= tells us which student)

• The jacket that I bought yesterday is already torn.

• The bakery which sells fresh bread opens at 6 a.m.

These clauses identify or specify the noun; they cannot be removed.

2. Non-defining Relative Clauses

A non-defining (or non-essential) relative clause gives extra, additional information. It does not change the main meaning of the sentence.

If we remove the clause, the sentence still makes perfect sense.

Important rule: We use commas before and after non-defining clauses.

Relative pronouns used:

• People: who

• Things: which
  We do NOT use “that”.

Examples:

• My uncle, who lives in Canada, is coming for the holidays.
  (= main idea: my uncle is coming)

• The library, which has recently been renovated, looks amazing.

• Her new novel, which I read last night, is already a bestseller.

These clauses add information but are not essential for understanding the noun.

3. Relative Pronouns – Quick Reference

Examples with “whose”:

• The boy whose parents are teachers won the competition.

• The hotel whose rooms face the sea is fully booked.

4. Relative Clauses as Subject or Object

A relative pronoun can act as either the subject or the object of the clause.

A. Pronoun as the subject:

• The artist who painted this portrait lives nearby.

• The cat that sleeps in the garden belongs to Anna.

B. Pronoun as the object:

In defining clauses, we can omit the pronoun:

• The woman (who/that) I met yesterday was very kind.

• This is the laptop (which/that) I bought last year.

In non-defining clauses, the pronoun cannot be omitted:

• My car, which I bought ten years ago, still works perfectly.

5. Prepositions in Relative Clauses

Defining Clauses → preposition at the end:

• The café (which/that) we talked about is open again.

• That’s the river (which/that) they fish in every summer.

Non-defining Clauses → preposition stays inside the clause:

• The castle, which I told you about yesterday, is very old.

• His latest film, which many critics wrote about, won several awards.