TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES

Grammarians use many terms to refer to these types of clauses: restrictive/non-restrictive; identifying/non-identifying; limiting and descriptive etc.

In this course we will be using the terms defining clauses, which stands for restrictive/ identifying/ limitingclauses and non-defining clauses which stands for non-restrictive/ non-identifying/ descriptive clauses.

Defining Clauses (DC)

(restrictive/ identifying/ limiting)

1. Defining clauses are introduced with the following connectives:

Who/whom

which

that

whose

where

when

why

the same as

· People (what kind of people?) who lie in the court are prosecuted.

· I’d like to marry someone (what kind of someone?) whose star sign is Libra.

· It is the dark-blue top (what kind of top?) that really appeals to me.

· She's an actress (what kind of actress?) who/ whom most people think is at the peak of her career. (the connective ‘ whom ’ in BrE is very formal)

· His answer to Mr. Bold was exactly the same (what kind of the same?) as he gave to all the other colleagues.

2. Some connectives can be omitted. It happens in the following cases:

a) the connectives ‘who, which and that’ can be omitted if they are the object and not the subject of the relative clause, e.g.

· The papers (which/that) you gave me to check are missing. (‘you’ – the subject; ‘gave’ – the predicate; ‘which/that = papers’ – a direct object)

· That's the man (who/that) I met at Allison's party. (‘I’ – the subject; ‘met’ – the predicate; ‘who/that = man’ – a direct object)

b) the connective ‘where’ can be omitted if there is a preposition, e.g.

· The shop where I bought this shirt is near my house. = The shop I bought this shirt from is near my house.

c) the connectives ‘when, where and why’ can either be replaced by ‘ that’ or omitted, e.g.

· The day (when/that) I got married was the happiest day of my life.

· I was upset; this is the reason (why/that) I didn’t call you.

1. Defining clauses can be joined to the main clause asyndetically, e.g.

· Henry Gordon was a colourless man people forgot the minute they said goodbye to him.

· That was the kind of job all boys would willingly do.

 

Non-Defining Clauses (NDC)

(non-restrictive/ non-identifying/ descriptive)

1. Non-Defining clauses are introduced with the following connectives:

 

who

whom

which

whose

where

when

 

2. The connectives cannot be omitted or replaced by that.

3. Non-Defining relative clauses give extra information, e.g.

• Jenny Ladd, who has written a lot of successful books, is my favourite author.

· My cousin Peter, who(= whom) you have just met, is a doctor.

· His flat, which he bought two years ago, is modern and spacious.

· The bride, whose wedding dress was designed by Valentine, looked stunning.

· Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born, is visited by thousands of tourists every year.

· The best time to visit the island is in May, when it isn't too crowded.

• That Masters course, which I took in 1990, is no longer taught at the college.

Note: Don’t confuse DC clauses when the main clause begins with the definite article ‘the’ and NDC clauses when the main clause begins with the demonstrative pronouns ‘this/that/these/those’. Compare:

Defining Clauses	Non-Defining Clauses
· The river which flows through Hereford is the Wye. · The picture which was damaged is worth thousands of pounds. · The man who lives next door to Melanie is rather strange.	· This river, which flows all through Hereford, is very beautiful. · That famous picture, which was damaged during the war, is worth thousands of pounds. · This man, who lives next door to Melanie, is rather strange.

 

4. In formal English non-defining clauses may also be introduced by the following prepositional phrases:

since when	instead of which	in spite of which	to whom
according to which	which fact	the largest part of which	each of which
many examples of which	during which time	of which

· The investigation proved that the medicine was overdosed, which fact caused the immediate death of the patient.

· The Board of Directors approved the budget the largest part of which will be spent on advertising.

· Telephone charges vary according to which time of day you use your phone.

5. Non-Defining relative clauses can refer to the whole sentence, showing that the whole idea expressed in the main clause is described or evaluated in the subordinate clause e.g.

• For twenty minutes the child sat quietly watching the bobber on the fishing rod, which was very unusual for his energetic nature.
• Roger came for the weekend wearing only some shorts and a t-shirt, which was a stupid thing to do.
• The book won't be published until next year, which is disappointing.
• I have to go to hospital on Monday, which means I won't be able to see you.