Relative clauses	

1	Function
We watched a film that I had seen before.
Which word does the clause ‘that I had seen before’ relate to in this sentence?
Complete the rule
Relative clauses give information about a ________________ (part of speech). For this reason they are sometimes called adjective clauses.
2	Position
Which of the sentences below is correct? Why?
I ate the sandwich on the bus that I bought at the café.
I ate the sandwich that I bought at the café on the bus.

Complete the rule about the position of relative clauses.
Relative clauses normally come _________________________.
3	Types
Examples
1	The woman who lives next door told me you’d been.
2	The beach, which was probably the dirtiest beach I have ever seen, was packed with tourists. 

There are ____ basic types of relative clause:  defining (  ), and non-defining  (  ). 

Defining / non-defining relative clauses tell us which person, place or thing we are talking about.
Defining / non-defining relative clauses give extra information about a person, place or thing.

If you remove a defining / non-defining relative clause from a sentence, you still have a complete sentence.
Defining / non-defining relative clauses can take which, that or (sometimes) no relative pronoun for things.
Defining / non-defining relative clauses must always have a relative pronoun and take which, but not that, for things.

Defining or non-defining? Commas needed or not?

Motor vehicles which come from Japan are known for their reliability.
Motor vehicles which often come from Japan make up 50 per cent of all imports.
Toyota which is one of the world’s largest car makers has recently announced a fall in sales.
The Toyota saloon which I bought ten years ago is still going strong.
Motor vehicles, which many people consider to be more a curse than a blessing, are the main form of transport in many countries.
Motor vehicles cause air pollution which means their use in urban areas is sometimes restricted.

4	Formal and informal styles

	Formal written or less formal?

The school I was sent to
The school to which I was sent

The person you were talking to
The person to whom you were talking

The man whom I met at the party
The man I met at the party

In spoken and informal English we put prepositions at the end of relative clauses / before the relative pronoun.

In formal written English we often put prepositions at the end of relative clauses / before the relative pronoun. When we do this, ‘who’ becomes _________ .

When using quantifiers (all, most, many etc.) in spoken and informal English / formal written English, we make relative clauses with the phrases most of which / all of whom etc. 

Put these into a more formal style.

The member of staff I spoke to was very rude
The town I was born in is famous for its cathedral.
We have found six models. Three of them would probably suit you.
There are over fifty manufacturers of gloves. Most of them focus on the low end of the market.
It’s a situation where you need a good deal of tact.
There are around thirty staff. A number of them can speak good English.
I wish to make a complaint about the wine glasses. You sent them last week. Most of them arrived cracked or broken.
I would like to know who I should write to if I want more information.

Make these less formal and more suitable for spoken English.

To whom do I have the honour of speaking?
The party to which I went with Peter was really great.
She’s someone whom I have known for thirty years.
It’s a game in which you have to guess the cards the other players are holding.

Answers	

1	Function
We watched a film that I had seen before.
Which word does the clause ‘that I had seen before’ relate to in this sentence?
Complete the rule
Relative clauses give information about a noun*. For this reason they are sometimes called adjective clauses.
* However, some non-defining relative clauses add comments about the main clause. See example 6 at the bottom of the page
2	Position
Which of the sentences below is correct? Why?
I ate the sandwich on the bus that I bought at the café.
 Grammatically correct but very unlikely – you would not buy a bus at a café.
I ate the sandwich that I bought at the café on the bus. 
Grammatically correct – you bought a sandwich at a café and ate it on the bus.

Complete the rule about the position of relative clauses.
Relative clauses normally come after the noun that they relate to.
3	Types
Examples
1	The woman who lives next door told me you’d been.
2	The beach, which was probably the dirtiest beach I have ever seen, was packed with tourists. 

There are two basic types of relative clause:  defining (1), and non-defining  (2). 

Defining relative clauses tell us which person, place or thing we are talking about.
Non-defining relative clauses give extra information about a person, place or thing.

If you remove a non-defining relative clause from a sentence, you still have a complete sentence.
Defining relative clauses can take which, that or (sometimes) no relative pronoun for things.
Non-defining relative clauses must always have a relative pronoun and take which, but not that, for things.

Defining or non-defining? Commas needed or not?

1	Motor vehicles which come from Japan are known for their reliability.
Defining relative clause – the relative clause tells us which motor vehicles. No commas.

2	Motor vehicles, which often come from Japan, make up 50 per cent of all imports.
Non-defining relative clause – we’re talking about motor vehicles in general. The relative clause gives extra information – they often come from Japan. Commas needed.

3	Toyota, which is one of the world’s largest car makers, has recently announced a fall in sales.
Non-defining relative clause. The subject ‘Toyota’ does not need defining. The relative clause gives extra information about Toyota – it is one of the world’s largest car makers. Commas needed.

4	The Toyota saloon which I bought ten years ago is still going strong.
Defining relative clause – the relative clause tells us which Toyota saloon. No commas.

5	Motor vehicles, which many people consider to be more a curse than a blessing, are the main form of transport in many countries.
Non-defining relative clause. We’re talking about motor vehicles in general. The relative clause adds a comment about the subject. Commas needed.

6	Motor vehicles cause air pollution, which means their use in urban areas is sometimes restricted.
Non-defining relative clause. The relative clause adds a comment about the first part of the sentence – the main clause. Comma needed.

4	Formal and informal styles

	Formal written or less formal?

The school I was sent to - LESS FORMAL 
The school to which I was sent – FORMAL

The person you were talking to - LESS FORMAL
The person to whom you were talking - FORMAL

The man whom I met at the party - FORMAL
The man I met at the party LESS FORMAL

In spoken and informal English we put prepositions at the end of relative clauses.*

* Note – this is true for common prepositions – in , at , on , to etc. However, note that some prepositions - during, after, because of, before, below and besides - always come before the pronoun. (See text book page 179)

In formal written English we often put prepositions before the relative pronoun. When we do this, ‘who’ becomes ‘whom’.

When using quantifiers (all, most, many etc.) in formal written English, we make relative clauses with the phrases most of which / all of whom etc. 

Put these into a more formal style.

The member of staff I spoke to was very rude
The member of staff to whom I spoke was very rude.
The town I was born in is famous for its cathedral.
The town in which (where) I was born is famous for its cathedral.
We have found six models. Three of them would probably suit you.
We have found six models, six of which would probably suit you.
There are over fifty manufacturers of gloves. Most of them focus on the low end of the market.
There are over fifty manufacturers of gloves, most of which focus on the low end of the market.
It’s a situation where you need a good deal of tact.
It’s a situation in which you need a good deal of tact.
There are around thirty staff. A number of them can speak good English.
There are around thirty staff, a number of whom can speak good English.
I wish to make a complaint about the wine glasses. You sent them last week. Most of them arrived cracked or broken.
I wish to make a complaint about the wine glasses you sent last week, most of which arrived cracked or broken.
I would like to know who I should write to if I want more information.
I would like to know to whom I should write if I want more information.

Make these less formal and more suitable for spoken English.

To whom do I have the honour of speaking?
Who am I talking to? 
The party to which I went with Peter was really great.
The party I went to with Peter was really great.
She’s someone whom I have known for thirty years.
She’s someone I’ve known for thirty years.
It’s a game in which you have to guess the cards the other players are holding.
It’s game where you have to guess the cards the other players are holding.