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Relative Clauses: Worked Examples and Exercises
A relative clause gives extra information about a noun without starting a new sentence. It is introduced by a relative pronoun (who, which, that, whose, whom) or a relative adverb (where, when, why). Relative clauses help you write longer, more precise sentences, which is essential at Bachillerato level and in the EBAU writing task.
Key rules
who - for people: "The student who won the prize is from Valencia."
which - for things and animals: "The phone which I bought last week has stopped working."
that - for people or things, but ONLY in defining clauses: "The film that we saw was boring."
whose - possession (people or things): "That's the boy whose mother is a pilot."
whom - formal, for people as the object, especially after a preposition: "The man to whom I spoke was very polite."
where (place), when (time), why (reason): "That's the café where we met." / "I remember the day when we moved." / "That's the reason why she left."
Defining vs. non-defining relative clauses
A defining clause identifies WHICH person or thing we mean. Without it, the sentence is incomplete or changes its meaning. It has no commas, and you can use that.
A non-defining clause adds EXTRA information about something already identified. It goes between commas, and you can NEVER use that or omit the pronoun.
Defining: "The students who passed the exam got a certificate." (Only those students, not all of them.)
Non-defining: "The students, who passed the exam, got a certificate." (All the students passed, and all got a certificate.)
Omitting the relative pronoun
In defining clauses you can leave out who, which or that when the pronoun is the object of the clause (there is another subject after it):
"The book (that) I lent you is very valuable." - "I" is the subject, so "that" can be omitted.
"The book that is on the table is mine." - "that" is the subject of "is", so it CANNOT be omitted.
You can never omit whose, and you can never omit the pronoun in a non-defining clause.
Worked examples
Example 1: joining two sentences (defining clause) "I met a girl. Her brother plays for Real Madrid." Step 1: What links the two sentences? "her brother" = possession, so we need whose. Step 2: Replace "her" with "whose" and place the clause right after the noun "girl". Result: "I met a girl whose brother plays for Real Madrid." No commas: the clause tells us which girl.
Example 2: joining two sentences (non-defining clause) "Toledo is near Madrid. Toledo has many historic monuments." Step 1: "Toledo" is a unique place, already identified. The second sentence only adds extra information, so the clause is non-defining. Step 2: It is a place but here it is the subject of "has", so we use which, not "where". Result: "Toledo, which has many historic monuments, is near Madrid." Commas are obligatory, and "that" is not possible.
Example 3: where or which? (a) "This is the town ___ I was born." (b) "This is the town ___ I visited last year." (a) After the gap we have a complete clause: "I was born (in the town)". The town is the place where something happens, so we use where (= in which). (b) "I visited ___" needs a direct object: the town itself. So we use which or that, or omit the pronoun: "This is the town (that) I visited last year." Trick: if you can add "in/at" + the noun at the end of the clause, use where.
Example 4: correcting common mistakes "The man who he lives next door is a teacher." -> Wrong: the pronoun "who" already acts as the subject, so "he" must go: "The man who lives next door is a teacher." "My mother, that is a nurse, works nights." -> Wrong: "that" cannot introduce a non-defining clause: "My mother, who is a nurse, works nights." "The woman who's car was stolen..." -> Wrong: "who's" = "who is". Possession is "whose": "The woman whose car was stolen..."
Example 5: prepositions in relative clauses Informal: "That's the girl (who) I was talking about." (preposition at the end) Formal: "That's the girl about whom I was talking." (preposition before whom/which) Never "about who" or "about that" in formal English.
Exercises
The woman ___ car was stolen called the police.
Which sentence is correct?
In which sentence can the relative pronoun be omitted?
That's the hotel ___ we stayed last summer.
Publicidad
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