Relative Clauses

Look at this sample situation:

A conversation between two friends:

Mia: Do you remember the girl who lives next door?

Leo: Yes, the one whose brother plays football, right?

Mia: Exactly! Her sister, who is studying in Canada, is coming home next week.

Leo: Oh, and she’s dating a boy who I met at summer camp.

Mia: The camp, which was in Italy last year, was amazing.

You can see from these examples that:

Relative clauses give essential or extra information about a person, thing or place within a sentence.

They are often introduced by relative pronouns such as who, which, that, whose or more formally whom or by relative adverbs like when, where and why.

There are two types: defining which provide essential information and non-defining that give extra information and are separated with commas.

Defining Relative Clauses

These give us essential information; they tell us exactly which person or thing we are talking about. No commas are used. Without them, the information would be incomplete and the sentence would not be clear:

If we removed the relative clause who lives next door, it wouldn't be clear which girl we're talking about.

Similarly, if we removed the relative clause that everyone loves, it wouldn't be clear which film we're talking about.

In defining clauses, you can sometimes omit the pronoun:

You can leave out the relative pronoun if it is the object of the clause:

But you cannot omit it if it is the subject:

Here the relative pronoun who cannot be omitted.

Non-Defining Relative Clauses

These add extra information that is not necessary to identify the person or thing we are talking about. They are separated by commas when they are in the middle of the sentence and if they are at the end of the sentence, they only take one comma before it. Without them, the information would be clear:

If we removed the relative clause who lives in London, the sentence would still makes senses. This means I only have one brother so who lives in London is extra information, not essential.

Similarly, if we removed the relative clause which opened last month, it would be clear which café we're talking about.

Note: Relative pronouns can never be omitted in non-defining relative clauses. The relative pronoun that cannot be used in non-defining relative clauses.

Relative Pronouns

Who is used for people:

Which is used for things or animals:

That replaces who or which in defining clauses (but never in non-defining ones):

Whose shows possession both for people and things:

Here the possession relates to a person: the student.

Here the possession relates to a thing: the car.

Where is used for places:

When is used for time:

When is for reasons:

Note: You can sometimes omit why in defining relative clauses:

Whom is more formal and is used less often in modern spoken English. It is used for people when the pronoun is the object of the clause or after a preposition.

This is very formal and not common. In everyday English, the following is used instead:

After a preposition:

Again, this is formal. It is more natural to say this in everyday English:

By placing the preposition at the end of the clause, whom can be replaced by who or even more informally by that.

Similarly, prepositions can be used before which:

Using the preposition in at the end of the clause is more usual. But:

Using the preposition before which makes it formal.

Other Key Points

Expressions of quantity (some of, many of, a few of, most of, half of, neither of, none of, a number of, etc.) can be followed by whom/which/whose:

Which sometimes refers to a whole sentence and cannot be omitted:

could be expressed like this:

That can be used instead of when.

In, on, at + which can be used instead of when and where. Where can be omitted or substituted by that if the verb is followed by a preposition:

or

In the FCE exam

Reading and Use of English

Part 4 (key word transformations) often includes transformations with relative clauses:

In 1986 they gave their first concert in Europe.

WAS 

1986 _____________________________ they gave their first concert in Europe.

Answer: was the year when/was the year that/was the year

We've interviewed all of the candidates but we haven't found anyone suitable for the job.

NONE 

We've interviewed all of the candidates _____________________________ for the job.

Answer: none of whom are suitable/none of whom were suitable

Writing

Using relative clauses in your writings helps you sound more natural and advanced, adding variety in terms of grammar structures. They also help you connect ideas smoothly instead of using short, simple sentences:

In essays, relative clauses help you add reasons, examples or extra details clearly and logically:

You can also use non-defining clauses to add extra but relevant information:

Reviews and articles often require descriptions and opinions so relative clauses help you explain your experience in a smoother way:

This gives extra information about the location without starting a new sentence.

Speaking

Relative clauses can also make your spoken English sound more fluent, descriptive and connected, especially in parts 2, 3 and 4.

Part 2 Use relative clauses to describe people or objects in the picture more precisely:

Part 3  When you give opinions and talk about general ideas, relative clauses can help you generalise or define groups of people:

Part 4 Relative clauses can help you refer to ideas, opinions or groups of people in a more complex and natural way:

Now try these exercises!