RELATIVE
CLAUSES
Relative clauses are
non-essential parts of a sentence. They may add meaning, but if they are
removed, the sentence will still function grammatically. There are two broad
types of relative clauses in English. It is important to distinguish between
them because it affects the choice of pronoun used to introduce the clause.
There is a more detailed page about preposition placement in relative clauses.
DEFINING CLAUSES
A defining or
identifying clause tells us which specific person or thing we are talking about
in a larger group of people or things. If a defining relative clause is
removed, the meaning of the sentence changes significantly. A defining relative
clause is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas or parentheses.
NON-DEFINING CLAUSES
A non-defining or
non-essential clause gives us more information about the person or thing we are
talking about. If a non-defining relative clause is removed from a sentence, we
lose some detail, but the overall meaning of the sentence remains the same.
Non-defining relative clauses are always set off from the rest of the sentence
with commas or parentheses.
We don't use 'that' in
non-defining relative clauses, so we need to use 'which' if the pronoun refers
to a thing, and 'who' if it refers to a person. We can't drop the relative
pronoun in this kind of clause, even if the relative pronoun is the subject of
the clause.
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