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Defining Relative Clauses VS. Non-defining relative clauses

>Non-defining Relative Clauses

They provide interesting additional information which is not essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence.

Example: Mrs. Jackson, who is very intelligent, lives on the corner.

"Mrs Johnson lives on the corner" provides a good piece of information. We also know that she is very intelligent, thanks to the relative clause (another interesting piece of information).

NB: YOU MUST USE COMMAS!

 

>Defining Relative Clauses

- their information is crucial in understanding the meaning of the sentence.
- if you remove them, the sentence has a different meaning or no meaning at all.

Examples:

The woman who lives in apartment No. 34 has been arrested.

What woman? The woman who lives in apartment n°34, not another woman.

A defining relative clause clearly defines who or what we are talking about. Without this information, it would be difficult to know who or what is meant.

NB: NO COMMAS!

 

 

Defining Relative Clauses

 
Person
Object
Subject

who, that

 

which, that

 
Object

Ø, that

(also: who, whom)

Ø, that

(also: which)
Possessive whose whose, of which


Examples:

>Subject:
Example: Children who (that) play with fire are in great danger of harm.
The man who bought all the books by Hemingway has died.

Which is better? which/who OR that?
> who and which: written English
> that: oral English

>Object:
Example: That's the boy (Ø , that, who, whom) I invited to the party.
There's the house (Ø, that, which) I'd like to buy.

>Possessive:
Example: He's the man whose car was stolen last week.
They were sure to visit the town whose location (OR the location of which) was little known.

TEST

Choose the right pronoun:
1. It is the book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I've just read.
2. She is the girl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sat next to me in the bus.
3. They are the people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . helped me.
4. This is the dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . scared me.


Build one sentence (containing a defining relative clause) with these two sentences:
5. A robot is a machine. It can replace human workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
6. A vet is a doctor. He treats animals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
7. Pets are animals. They are kept at home as companions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
8. A robot is a machine. It looks like a human being. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

ANSWERS: 1. Ø / that / which | 2. that / who | 3. that / who | 4. that / which | 5. A robot is a machine which/that can replace human workers. | 6. A vet is a doctor who/that treats animals.| 7. Pets are animals that/which are kept at home as companions. | 8. A robot is a machine which/that looks like a human being.