Look at these two sentences. The relative clause is
in bold type:
- The manager
who made this serious mistake
lost his job. - Mr. Ronald, who lost his job last week,
is applying for a new position.
The relative clause in the first sentence is a
defining clause. It tells us why Mr. Ronald lost his job and
therefore is essential to the meaning of the sentence. The manager was
fired because he had made a serious mistake in his job.
The relative clause in the second sentence is a
non-defining clause. It gives us extra information about Mr. Ronald.
This information is not needed to identify what is being talked about.
The two types of clause are different in terms of
grammar and punctuation, so please go on reading below.
DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
The following relative pronouns can be
used to introduce a defining relative clause:
TO
REFER TO PEOPLE
TO
REFER TO THINGS
SUBJECT
who, that
which, that
OBJECT
(who, that,
whom)
(which, that)
POSSESSIVE
whose
When that, who or which
are the object of the verb in the relative clause, they can be omitted.
Commas are not used to separate the
relative clause from the rest of the sentence:
- Some of the applicants who
we interviewed were veryhighly qualified. - Some of the applicants that
we interviewed were veryhighly qualified. - Some of the applicants
we interviewed were veryhighly qualified.
- The job that they asked
us to do was almostimpossible. - The job which they asked
us to do was almostimpossible. - The job they asked
us to do was almostimpossible.
NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
The following relative pronouns can be used to introduce a
non-defining relative clause:
TO
REFER TO PEOPLE
TO
REFER TO THINGS
SUBJECT
who
which
OBJECT
who, whom
which
POSSESSIVE
whose
That cannot be used in a non-defining clause.
Who or which
cannot be omitted.
Commas are usually used to separate the relative clause from
the rest of the sentence:
-
The manager, who was in his late fifties, accepted early retirement. - The company,whose truck was stolen yesterday,
has gone bankrupt.
STEP 5
Grammar: Activity
with Answer
Decide whether these
sentences are defining or non-defining relative clauses by choosing the best
alternative from the menus below.
ANSWERS
1.
The design that was
selected was in fact the most expensive.
2.
This
is Marisa Gomez Reyes, whose company manufactures computer software.
3.
The new investment
plan, which was announced on September 25, will take five
years to complete.
4.
Miguel Vallejos is
the manager whose office is next to Marisa Gomez Reyes.
5.
The secretary who
went to Buenos Aires last year was fired yesterday.
