1. How to form a Relative Clause

Imagine, a man is talking to your friend Peter. You want to know who he is and you ask your brother if he knows him. You could say: „A man is talking to Peter. Do you know the man?“ However, it sounds rather complicated. It is easier if a relative clause is used by putting both pieces of information into one sentence.

• Step 1: start with the most important information = Do you know the man ……
• Step 2: add the additional information = the man talking to Peter (your brother doesn‘t know which man you are talking about)
• Step 3: replace the word „the man“ in the second part of the sentence (in the step 2) with the relative pronoun ( in this case with „who“ which is used for people)
• The final sentence is :: "Do you know the man who is talking to Peter?"

2. Relative Pronouns

When words like „who, which, that and when“ are used to introduce a relative clause, they are often reffered to as relative pronouns.

Who – a pronoun used for people

• What’s the name of the person who invented penicilin?
• The woman who came in the office today is my neighbour.

Which – a pronoun used for animals and things

• Can you pass me the book which is lying on the table?
• I do not like holidays which last more than seven days.

Whose – a pronoun to indicate possesion of people, animals and things

• Do you know the girl whose mother is a secretary?
• They live in a house whose gate is blue.
• They decided to choose the dog whose eyes were completely black.

That – a pronoun used for people, animals and things

• I don’t like the swimming pool that our parents bought.
• The specialist that I went to see was ill.
• A dolphin is an animal that is extremely inteligent.

Which – a pronoun referring to the whole sentence.

• She couldn’t swim, which surprised me.
• I eat at home, which is cheaper.

Whom – a pronoun used for people (used as a object pronoun, especially in Non-defining Relative Clauses, in Defining Relative Clause is in spoken english more common to use „who“)

• I was invited to the party by a doctor whom I met at the hospital.
• The man whom I asked for the way was a foreigner.

3. Defining Relative Clauses

As the name suggests, these clauses give essential information to define or identify the person or thing we are talking about.

Imagine, your friend Peter is in a room with three men. One man is talking to Peter and you ask somebody if he/she knows that man. In this situation the relative clause defines which of the three man you mean.

• Do you know the man who is talking to Peter?

Defining Relative Clauses are not put in commas.

• The people who we spoke to yesterday are very nice.

Defining Relative Clauses are often used indefinitions.

• The dentist is a doctor who looks after our teeth.

Object pronounsin Defining Relative Clauses can be omitted.

• The singer who we saw last night is Mick Jagger!
• The singer we saw last night is Mick Jagger!
• I ate the banana which Martina laid on the table.
• I ate the banana Martina laid on the table.
• I read the book that you showed me.
• I read the book you showed me.

4. What are Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns?

We need to know what is an object pronoun and a subject pronoun to be able to recognize when we can omit them in defining clauses.

A Subject pronoun is a relative pronoun which is followed by a verb.Subject pronouns must always be used.

• The magazine which is lying on the sofa is mine.

AnObject Pronoun is a relative pronoun which is immediately followed by a noun or pronoun but never by a verb. Object pronouns can be omitted.

• I read the magazine which Ray laid on the sofa.
• I read the magazine Ray laid on the sofa.

5. Non-defining Relative Clauses

Non-defining Relative Clauses give additional information on something but do not define it

Imagine, your friend Peter is in a room with only one man. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody if he/she knows this man. Here the relative clause is non-defining – in this situation it is obvious which man you mean.

• Do you know the man, who is talking to Peter?

Non-defining Clauses are put in commas.

Object pronounsin non-defining clauses must be used.

• Roy, who/whom I visited yesterday, is very generous.

The relative pronoun that cannot be used in non-defining relative clauses (we can use who/which).

6. How to shorten relative clauses

To make the sentence easier to understand we can replace subject pronouns „who/which/that“ with a participle (-ing).

• I told you about the couple who drive the Porsche.
• I told you about the couple driving the Porsche.
• Can you pass me the book which is lying on the table?
• Can you pass me the book lying on the table?