Relative clauses are usually introduced by relative pronouns such as: that, who or which and are used to

provide information about someone or something just mentioned.

We can use relative clauses:

- to identify people. (I’ve just seen the woman who lives upstairs.)
- to describe things. (She’s climbing up a ladder that wobbles every gust of wind.)
- to add comments. (I think she’s going to clean the windows, which seems rather dangerous in
the circumstances.)

We can sometimes use a relative clause with no relative pronoun. (With every _ step she takes, water
splashes out of the bucket _ she’s carrying.)

We use relative clauses to give more information about a noun phrase in a preceding clause. Instead of
repeating the subject noun phrase, we can use a relative pronoun.
e.g. I have a friend. The friend or He lives in London. --- I have a friend who lives in London.
We found a shop. The shop or It sold old records. --- We found a shop which sold old records.

When we use a relative pronoun instead of an object, noun or pronoun, we put the relative pronoun at
the beginning of the relative clause. We don’t repeat the noun or pronoun.
e.g. I loved the card. You sent it. --- I loved the card that you sent. (that you sent it.)
He’s one man. I admire him. --- He’s one man whom I admire. (whom I admire him.)

WHO, WHOM:

We use who and whom when we are talking about people.

We can use WHO as the subject of a relative clause.

e.g. Michael is a teacher. He works in Dublin. --- Michael is a teacher who works in Dublin.

And WHOM as the object.

e.g. The person wasn’t Michael. You met him. --- The person whom you met wasn’t Michel.

We can use whom after prepositions at the beginning of a relative clause in formal situations. In
informal situations, we can put the preposition after the verb and use who at the beginning or, more
usually, we leave out the relative pronoun.
e.g. The man is Joe Nash. You should talk to him. --- The man to whom you should talk is Joe Nash.
The man who you should talk to is Joe Nash.
The man you should talk to is Joe Nash.

WHICH OR THAT:

We use which or that

- for things or animals.

e.g. I found the keys which/that are missing.
They own a cat which/that doesn’t have a tail.
- After group of nouns such as team for a group of people, we are thinking of as a single unit.
e.g. We were in a team. The team won the cup. --- We were in a team which/that won the cup.
- In informal situations we sometimes use that instead of who/whom for people.
e.g. The woman is a nurse. She lives next door. --- The woman that lives next door is a nurse.

We can use which after prepositions at the beginning of a relative clause in formal situations. In
informal situations, we put the preposition after the verb and use that at the beginning of the
relative clause or, more usually, we leave out the relative pronoun.
e.g. I can’t remember the hotel. We stayed in the hotel. --- I can’t remember the hotel in which we
stayed. / I can’t remember the hotel (that) we stayed in.

Defining and non-defining relative clauses:

Defining relative clauses:

1. In a defining clause, we include information that identifies or classifies people and things. The
meaning of the sentence is not complete without the defining relative clause.
e.g. Do you remember the woman who used to work in the bookshop?
Do you have a thing that measures temperature?
2. We often use that at the beginning of a defining relative clause instead of the object
e.g. I brought the book. Maria wanted it. --- I brought the book (that) Maria wanted.
or the object of a preposition.
e.g. The film is “Twins”. He’s talking about it. --- The film (that) he’s talking about is “Twins”.
3. We usually use that after noun phrases containing superlatives
e.g. It’s the best film (that) I’ve ever seen in years.
or quantifiers.
e.g. There’s a lot (that) I don’t know about computers.
Every person (that) we met had a cold.
4. We can also begin defining relative clauses with who, whom and which.
e.g. I don’t know anyone who/whom I can trust.
There are two rules which you must always obey.

Non-defining relative clauses:

When we want to include essential information, we use a defining relative clause.

e.g. The first caller who can give the correct answer will win the prize.

When we are simply adding extra information, we use a non-defining relative clause.
e.g. The first caller, who was from the London area, didn’t give the correct answer.

We usually use who, whom or which at the beginning of non-defining clauses

e.g. Our new boss, who seem to be nice, has said nothing about Mr. Bell, whom he replaced.

We don’t usually begin non-defining relative clauses with that or without a relative clause
e.g. the mini, which some people initially laughed at, soon became the most popular car.
The mini, (that) some people initially laughed at, soon became the most popular car.
We can use non-defining relative clauses with which to add comments about preceding statements
e.g. They said that Catherine had been in prison, which simply wasn’t true.

We also use which in preposition phrases such as in which case at the beginning of non-defining
relative clauses used to add comments
e.g. There may be a strike, in which case the office will remain close.

In non-defining relative clauses we can use of which and of whom after quantifiers such as some
e.g. The last lecture, some of which I just didn’t understand, was about osmosis.
or superlatives such as the most famous.
e.g. At the conference, there were several writers, the most famous of whom was Paul Theroux.
We do this when we want to add information about part of something or about an individual from a
group already mentioned.

Reduced relative clauses:

A relative clause formed with a participle and no relative pronoun is called a reduced relative clause.
We use present participles
e.g. There are two students who are waiting outside. --- There are two students waiting outside.
and past participles
e.g. The strawberries which had been dipped in chocolate were really delicious! --- The strawberries
dipped in chocolate were really delicious.

We use a present participle in place of an active verb

e.g. There were teachers who were shouting and children who were running out of the building.
---There were teachers shouting and children running out of the building.
and a past participle in place of a passive verb.
e.g. Debbie only drinks juice that is made from fresh fruit that is grown organically. --- Debbie only
drinks juice made from fresh fruit grown organically.

We can use participles instead of verbs referring to the past, present or future.
e.g. The winner is the person who scored/scores/will score the most points in the game. --- The
winner is the person scoring the most points in the game.
First prize is for the most points which were scored/are scored/will be scored in the game. ---
First prize is for the most points scored in the game.

We can use a participle from a simple passive to describe a general situation.

e.g. We are concerned about people held in prison without a trial. (= who are held)
a continuous passive to emphasize that a situation is continuing
e.g. We are concerned about people being held in prison without a trial. (= who are being held)
or a perfect passive to emphasize that a situation has continued from an earlier time.
e.g. We are concerned about people having been held in prison for years. (= who have been held)

Participles can also be used in non-defining relative clauses, usually in written description and
narratives.
e.g. The old car, trailing black smoke, drove off towards town. (= which was trailing smoke)
Robert Ball, nicknamed ‘Big Bob’, was my favorite teacher. (= who was nicknamed)

We put not before the participle in negative reduced relative clauses.

e.g. My parents, not having much money, never went on holiday. (= who didn’t have)
I’d rather prefer shirts not made with polyester if you have any. (= which aren’t made)

We can use some adjectives and adjectives phrases after nouns in a way that is similar to reduced
relative clauses. (Necessary, possible, present, ready, responsible, suitable)
e.g. There was one seat available on the flight. (=one seat which was available)
Mercury is a metal, silver in color, often found in liquid form (= which is silver in color)

We don’t use a participle instead of a verb that describes a single or sudden action
e.g. There was a sudden bang that woke me up. (There was a sudden bang waking me up)
or a verb with a subject that is different from the relative pronoun.
e.g. There are several things we need from the shop. (There are several things needing…)
This isn’t the information that I was given before. (This isn’t information given before.)

We usually use infinitive, not a participle, after a noun preceded by the adjectives first, second, etc.
e.g. Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. (= who walked on the moon)
(Neil Armstrong was the first person walking on the moon.)

Possessives and pronouns with relative clauses

Possessives with relative clauses

We use whose, instead of possessive determiners such as his before nouns. We usually use whose,
to refer to people
e.g. Is he the boy? His bag was stolen. --- Is he the boy whose bag was stolen?

but it can also be used after nouns for organizations and places.
e.g. Napa is in a region whose wines are famous
Come to Jamaica, whose people welcome you.
Delco is a company whose products are everywhere.
That’s the club whose coach was fired.

We can also use whose, to talk about things that are part of or belong to other things.
e.g. Draw a circle. It’s radius is one inch. --- Draw a circle whose radius is one inch.
They live in a small town whose name I have forgotten.

Instead of whose before a noun, we can use of which after a noun when we talk about things.
e.g. It’s a small town, the name of which I’ve forgotten.

In informal uses, we can put which or that at the beginning and the noun plus of at the end.
e.g. They live in a small town which/that I’ve forgotten the name of.
Pronouns with relative clauses

We can use relative clauses after personal pronouns

e.g. She insists that it’s you who must apologize
But it wasn’t me who broke the window.
and indefinite pronouns
e.g. Do you know anyone who has a van?
There must be something (that) we can do about the cold.

We can also use the pronoun those with who, which, that or reduced relative clause.
e.g. Those who know him well say he will fight.
Ask those who are waiting outside to come in.
His idea are similar to those (which/that) we’ve heard before.
Organic vegetables are those (which/that have been) grown without the use of chemicals.

We can use quantifiers as pronouns followed by who or that

e.g. We saw some (that) we liked in Italy.
I didn’t find a lot (that was written) about Jeffreys.

We can also leave out the relative pronoun or use a reduced relative clause after quantifiers.
e.g. There aren’t many who like her.
There isn’t much that he misses.

Prepositions in relative clauses:

We can use prepositions at the beginning or the end of relative clauses. We usually put prepositions
at the end in informal situations.
e.g. This is the room. I work in it. --- This is the room in which I work.
This is the room that I work in.

When we put prepositions at the end, we usually use that at the beginning
e.g. Cook’s was the shop that everybody went to for shoes.
There were bunk beds that we slept in.
or no relative pronoun at the beginning.
e.g. Your opponent is the person _ you play against.
The day _ I’ve been waiting for soon arrived.

In formal situations, we can include which, who and whom at the beginning.
e.g. Camden is the area (which) I grew up in.
Is he the boy (who/whom) you were telling us about?

We always put the preposition at the end after a phrasal verb in a relative clause.
e.g. There are things (which) he’s had to cut back on.
He is a person (who/whom) I’ve always looked up to.
When we put prepositions at the beginning of a relative clause, we use which or whom.
e.g. A clothes horse is a frame in which clothes are hung to dry.
A lot will be expected from people to whom a lot is given.

There are some prepositions which we only use at the beginning of relative clauses. (after, because
of, before, below, besides.)
e.g. The mid-nineteenth century was a period during which many people left Ireland.

Relative clauses with where, what, whatever…

Relative clauses with where, when, why and how:

We can use where instead of in which, at which, etc. after nouns for places
e.g. There’s a small box. I keep keys in it. --- There is a small box where/in which I keep keys in.
and after nouns such as point and stage.
e.g. We have reached stage where we now have more people applying than we have space for.

More figuratively, we can use where after nouns like situation. (activity, case, example, experience,
society)
e.g. Women are better in situations where strategy is more important than strength.

We can use when instead of at which, during which, etc. after nouns referring to time.
e.g. Do you have a moment when we can talk?
That was a period when everything was fine.

After the noun reason, we can use why or no relative pronoun.

e.g. There may be good reasons (why) he couldn’t come.
There is no reason (why) you can’t do it.

We can use where, when, why and how in place of a noun and relative pronoun combined.
e.g. That’s where his car was parked. (= the place where)
They talked about when they were children. (= the time when)
She never told anyone why she had to leave. (= the reason why)
That’s how it’s done. (= the way in which)

Relative clauses with what:

We can use what meaning ‘the thing(s) that’, at the beginning of relative clauses used as objects or
subjects.
e.g. She gave them the things that she had. --- She gave them what she had.
What they are doing seems wrong.

We don’t use what after quantifiers or after nouns or pronouns.

e.g. Some people lost all (that) they had invested. (They lost all what they had invested.)
We will buy the food and everything (that) we need later. --- We will buy what we need.
Relative clauses with whatever, whoever, etc.

We can use whatever, meaning ‘anything(s) that’ and whoever meaning ‘any person(s) that’, at the
beginning of a relative clauses used as objects or subjects. We use whichever when we’re talking
about ‘anything(s) that’ from limited number or set of choices.
e.g. If you take the big boxes, I’ll take whatever is left. Whatever she said made them happy.
We will work with whoever they send. Whoever said those things is mistaken.
Write in pen or pencil, whichever you prefer. I’ll go by bus or train, whichever is cheaper.

We can use whatever, whoever and whichever to say ‘it doesn’t matter what, who or which’
e.g. I’m not waiting all day, whoever she is.
He’ll be in trouble whichever he chooses.
Whichever way they go, we’ll catch them.

We can also use wherever, whenever and however with the meanings ‘in or at any place, time or
way that’ and ‘it doesn’t matter where, when or how…’
e.g. He always keeps in touch wherever he is.
Please sit wherever you like.
Call whenever you can.
Just buy it, however much it costs.