RELATIVE CLAUSES

ENGLISH 1 – L ECTU RE

2025/2026
OVERVIEW

A clause is a part of a sentence. A relative clause tells us which person or thing (or what kind of
person or thing) the speaker means:
the woman who lives next door to me
(‘who lives next door to me’ tells us which woman)

people who complain all the time

(‘who complain all the time’ tells us what kind of people)

Relative clauses are used to give additional information about a noun, such as a person, place or
thing. These clauses are introduced by relative pronouns (who, that, which, whose, whom…).
CLAUSES AND PRONOUNS
W HO /T H AT/W H IC H AN D WH OS E /W H OM /W H ER E /W H EN
WHO/THAT/WHICH: BASIC USE

• We use who in a relative clause for people (not things):

The woman who lives next door to me is a doctor.

I don’t like people who complain all the time.

• We also use that for people, but not which:

The woman that lives next door to me is a doctor. (NOT *the woman which)

• When we are talking about things, we use that or which (not who) in a relative clause:
I don’t like stories that have unhappy endings. (OR … stories which have unhappy endings.)
CLAUSES WITH PRONOUN (SUBJECT)

• You must use who/that/which when it is the subject of the relative clause. You cannot leave out
who/that/which in:

The woman who lives next door to me is a doctor. (or The woman that lives …)

The woman lives next door to me. who (= the woman) is the subject

Where are the keys that were on the table? (or … the keys which were …)

The keys were on the table. that (= the keys) is the subject
CLAUSES WITH OR WITHOUT PRONOUN (OBJECT)

• Sometimes who/that/which is the object of the verb. For example:

• When who/that/which is the object, you can leave it out. So you can say:
The woman I wanted to see was away. OR The woman who I wanted to see…

Did you find the keys you lost? OR …the keys that you lost?
PRONOUNS AND PREPOSITIONS

• Note the position of prepositions (to/in/for…) in relative clauses:

Are these the books you were looking for? OR Are these the books that/which you were…
The man I was sitting next to on the plane talked all the time. OR The man who/that I was sitting next to…
WHOSE/WHOM/WHERE/WHEN
• We use whose mostly for people:
A doctor is a worker whose job is to heal people. (Her/his job is to heal people)
I met someone whose brother I went to school with. (I went to school with her/his brother)

• Whom is possible instead of who when it is the object of the verb. Example: George is a person
whom I admire very much.

o You can also use a preposition + whom (to whom / from whom / with whom etc.): It’s important to
have friends with whom you can relax.
o Whom is a formal word and we do not often use it in spoken English. We usually prefer to say: A
person (who/that) I admire very much OR Friends (who/that) you can relax with.

• We use where in a relative clause to talk about a place: I recently went back to the town where
I grew up. And when to talk about time: The day when the concert took place.
TYPES
DEFINING A ND NO N-DEFINING R ELATIVE C LAU SES
DEFINING VS NON-DEFINING

D EF INI NG RELAT IV E CLAU SES NO N-D EF INI NG RELAT IV E CLAU SES

▪ The relative clause tells you which person or ▪ The relative clause does not tell you which
thing the speaker means: person or thing the speaker means. It gives you
extra information:

The woman that/who lives next door…

My brother Ben, who lives in London, is a teacher.
The hotel that/which you recommended…
We stayed at the Ritz Hotel, which a friend of ours
recommended.
▪ We don’t use commas.
▪ We can use that instead of who and which. ▪ We USE commas (!)
▪ We have to use who and which (!)
 FURTHER INFORMATION AND EXERCISES IN:

MURPHY, R. (2019). English Grammar in Use: A Self-

Study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate
Students of English. Cambridge: CUP.

Units 92, 93, 94, and 95

EXERCISES
1) Are these sentences right or wrong? Correct them
where necessary.
1. I don’t like stories who have unhappy endings.

2. What was the name of the person who phoned?

3. Where’s the nearest shop who sells bread?

4. Dan said some things about me they were not true.

5. The driver which caused the accident was fined £500.

6. Do you know the person that took these pictures?

7. We live in a world what is changing all the time.

8. Gary apologised for what he said.

9. What was the name of the horse what won the race?
2) In some of these sentences you need who or that.
Correct the sentences where necessary.
1. The woman lives next door is a doctor.

2. Did you find the keys you lost?

3. The people we met last night were very friendly.

4. The people work in the office are very friendly.

5. I like the people I work with.

6. What have you done with the money I gave you?

7. What happened to the money was on the table?

8. What’s the worst film you’ve ever seen?

9. What’s the best thing it has ever happened to you?

3) Complete the sentences using who/whom/whose/where.

1. We helped some people ________ car had broken down.

2. A cemetery is a place ________ people are buried.

3. A pacifist is a person ________ believes that all wars are wrong.

4. An orphan is a child ________ parents are dead.

5. What’s the name of the hotel ________ your parents are staying?

6. This school is only for children ________ first language is not English.

7. The person from ________ I bought my car is a friend of my father’s.

8. I live in a friendly village ________ everybody knows everybody else.

4) Read the information and complete the sentences using
defining and non-defining relative clauses.

1. My brother is an architect. (He lives in Hong Kong.)

2. The strike at the factory has now ended. (The strike began ten days ago.)

3. I was looking for a book this morning. (I’ve found it now.)

4. I’ve had my car for 15 years. (This car has never broken down.)

5. A lot of people applied for the job. (Few of them had the necessary qualifications.)

6. Amy showed me a picture of her son. (Her son is a police officer.)