A Brief Overview of Relative Clauses for Middle School Students

1. Relative Clauses
a clause introduced by a relative
pronoun/adverb

2. Can you find them?
• Jack: Where are the books?
• John: Which books?
• Jack: The books that were lying on this table?
• John: Your friend has taken them.
• Jack: But I don’t remember lending them to
anyone.
• John: Your friend who visited us yesterday borrow
them from you.
• Jack: How forgetful of me!

3. What is a Clause?
Consequently, What is a Relative
Clause?
A clause is a group of words containing a
(finite) verb. A clause may be part of a
sentence. An adjective clause is one that
describes a noun or a pronoun. We also
call it a relative clause.

4. Its Entry in a Sentence
The books are
missing.
• Your friend
borrowed them.
• Relative clause is usually introduced by
relative pronouns such as who, which, that,
whose, whom, where and when.

5. Its Entry in a Sentence
Relative clauses are introduced just after
the antecedent and are introduced by a
pronoun or a relative adverb. The most
frequent ones are:
; ; ; (only in defining
relative clauses), and relative adverbs:
; ; .

6. Provides (Important/Additional)
Information
A relative clause (adjective clause) is a
subordinate (supporting) clause that gives
information about a noun (subject or object)
in the main clause.

7. No Useless Repetition
Subordinate clauses are clauses which
allow us to add information about people or
things we are talking to, without a need to
repeat the name, e.g.:

8. Types of Relative Clause
• Relative clauses are usually divided into
two types:
• A. Non-Defining Relative Clauses
• B. Defining Relative Clauses

9. Non-Defining Relative Clauses
Look at this sentence:
is a .
It adds extra information to the sentence.
If we take the clause out of the sentence,
the sentence still has the same meaning.

10. Examples of Non-Defining Relative
Clause
1.
2.
• 3.

11. Main Features of Non-Defining
Relative Clauses
- 1. Between commas
- 2. ‘That’ is not allowed
- 3. The relative pronoun can’t be omitted
- 4. It’s less frequent than defining relative
clauses. It is more formal and usually
used in written texts
- 5. Add extra information to sentences.

12. Defining Relative Clauses
Defining Relative Clauses are used to add
important information to a sentence. The sentence
would have a different meaning without a defining
relative clause.
They give essential information about their
antecedent and without them, the meaning will be
incompleted. That is why you write them without
commas.

13. Comparing Defining & Non-
Defining Relative Clauses
The defining relative clause tells us
which skirt.
The non-defining relative clause doesn’t
tell us which skirt – it gives us more
information about the skirt.

14. Important Facts
Non-defining relative clauses can use most
relative pronouns (which, whose etc,) but
they CAN’T use ‘that’ and the relative pronoun
can never be omitted.
Non-defining relative clauses are more often
used in written English than in spoken
English. You can tell that a clause is non-
defining because it is separated by commas at
each end of the clause.

15. Examples of ‘Where’ as the
Relative Adverb
The relative adverb where is used after nouns
referring to places:
(defining relative clause)
(non-defining relative
clause)

16. Examples of ‘When’ as the
Relative Adverb
The relative adverb when is used after nouns
referring to times and dates:
(defining relative clause)
(non-
defining relative clause)

17. Examples of ‘Why’ as the Relative
Adverb
The relative adverb why is used
after reason:
(only in
defining relative clauses)

18. Examples of ‘Whose’ as the
Relative Pronoun
(defining relative
clause)
(non-defining relative clause)

19. Relative Clauses
Defining Non-Defining
Pronouns
Who/
That
Which/
That
Whose
Where
When/That
Whom
They give us essential
information
The information given is not
essential,it can be omitted.
Pronouns
Who Which
Whose When
Where

20. All right, Bye Now