Relative clauses

Relative clauses, which sometimes cause problems, are quite a logical part of English grammar.

A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun, describes a noun and comes immediately after the noun it relates to.

 

The most commonly used relative pronouns to describe

people: who / that:     This is the woman who does my accounts.

things: which / that:     Do you like the boots which he bought in America?

possession: whose:     That is the child whose parents own a circus.

 

other examples are:

places: where:             Here is the place where I lost my watch.

reason: why:                 Now you can see why we choose him for the job.

time: when:                 Autumn is the time when we like to take our holiday.

 

There are two kinds of relative clauses: defining and non-defining

 

Defining relative clauses

 

• contain essential information about the subject of the sentence
• don‘t have commas
• are more common in spoken English
• “which” and “that” are interchangeable

 

            Examples:    

                        That‘s the man who won the race.

                        This is the house which he lives in.

                        Do you know a country where there are a lot of mountains?

                        That must be the man whose car is outside.

 

            Note: that is preferred to which after the following:

• superlatives This is the best meal that I‘ve ever eaten.
• all This is all the money that I‘ve left.
• every/ some/ any(thing)            Is there anything that you can tell me about him?
• only It was the only solution that they found to the problem.

 

 

Non-defining relative clauses

 

1. • contain extra, non-essential information about the noun
2. • have commas to separate the relative clause from the noun
3. • are more common in written English                           Microsoft, which has grown enormously in the past decade, was headed by Bill Gates.     Bill Gates, who lives in a multi-billion dollar house, donates money and technology to developing countries.

Relative clauses exercise Exercises adapted from Business Grammar Builder. Emmerson

 

Complete the sentences with who, whose, which or that. If more than one answer is possible, choose the word that is most common in speech.

 

1. The customer whose company I visited is phoning this afternoon.

1 The manual _________ they sent explains everything.

2 It’s difficult to say _________ this parcel was sent by.

3 The students _________ reports I looked at this morning were all very good.

4 I don’t remember _________ I spoke to when I called yesterday.

5 Your colleague, _________ I met this morning, had a different opinion.

6 Toyota is a manufacturer _________ reputation is excellent all over the world.

7 The exam _________ you showed me before was different to this one.

8 I can’t remember_________ I invited to the meeting.

9 Do you know_________ Catherine works for?

10 The assistant, _________ seems very young, is speaking to Martin Sommer.

11 They promoted the team leader_________ results were most successful.

 

B Combine each pair of sentences by including the word given in brackets.

 

0 Last year we introduced a new department, EUT. It is aimed at future-thinking individuals. (that) The new department that we introduced last year is aimed at future-thinking individuals.

1 I’d like you to meet a student. He could be a useful mentor for you. (who)

___________________________________________________________________________

2 Andrea’s report is on your desk. It deserves a read (which )

___________________________________________________________________________

3 A visitor is coming next week. He’s from our school in Olten. (who)

___________________________________________________________________________

4 Tom took me to a restaurant. It was called ‘Kurve’, (that)

___________________________________________________________________________

5 I heard a man’s presentation. He was an IT specialist. (who)

___________________________________________________________________________

6 Over there is a site. They’re going to build a new sports hall. (where)

___________________________________________________________________________

7 Here is the Excel file. I was telling you about it. (that)

___________________________________________________________________________

  

C Complete the sentences with your own ideas.

 

1 I’m sharing a flat with a student ____________________________________________

2 What we need in our class is ____________________________________________________

3 This is the place _______________________________________________________________

4 I still don’t know the exact time ___________________________________________________

5 I can’t understand the reason _____________________________________________________

6 The people making the real decisions _______________________________________________

7 The products attracting most interest are _____________________________________________

8 One of the reasons ________ I like/don’t like my city/town ______________________________

9 Someone _______ opinions I respect is ______________________________________________

10 The time _______ I think I was at my happiest was ____________________________________

 

1.             Examples:
2. • do not use “that” (always “which”)