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Defining Relative Clauses
Grammar for Graduate Students
Lecture 1
1
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The Family who lives next door moved here from
Australia.
 Main
Clause: The Family … moved here from Australia
 Relative Clause: who lives next door
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The main clause is need of a closer definition. The
relative clauses defines the main clause.
→ defining relative clause
Grammar for Graduate Students
:Lecture 1
1

Position: in the middle or at the end of the sentence
but it follows the word that it defines.




the family who live next door
the car which he wants
the cat that she owns
the teacher who we like
Grammar for Graduate Students
:Lecture 1
1

Subject relative pronouns:
 Are you the person who telephoned here an hour
ago?

relative pronoun who functions as the subject to the
verb telephoned.
 Can
you pick up the knife that/which has just fallen
off the table?

relative pronoun that/which functions as the subject to
the verb fallen off. That is used more often than which.
Which is more formal & scientific.
Grammar for Graduate Students
:Lecture 1
1

Object relative pronouns:
 That’s the woman who/that I met at Tony’s house.

Who/that functions as the object of the verb met.
 Is
that the book which/that you were reading last
night?

Which/that functions as the object of the verb read.
Grammar for Graduate Students
:Lecture 1
1

Relative pronouns: object of a preposition
 This is the beach (that/which) I was telling you about.

That/which functions as the object of the preposition
about. It can be omitted.
Grammar for Graduate Students
:Lecture 1
1
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Possessive relative pronoun:
 They are the workers whose jobs are being cut. .

Whose is a possessive relative pronoun. It refers to the
workers. It is the workers’ jobs that are being cut.
Whose jobs functions as the subject of the verb cut.
I
couldn’t find the man whose case I’d taken by
mistake.

Whose refers to the man. It was his case I’d taken.
Whose case functions as the object of the verb take.
Grammar for Graduate Students
:Lecture 1
1

Summary:
 Relative pronouns in defining relative clauses
subject
object
possessive
For people
who/that
no pronoun/who/that
whose
For things
that/which no pronoun/who/which ----
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NOTE: Where there is a choice of pronoun, the
underlined one is the most commonly used.