English – Relative Clauses: Defining and Non-Defining – BAC – Literary Stream

English – Relative Clauses: Defining and Non-Defining – BAC – Literary Stream

Relative clauses are used to give additional information about a noun. They are introduced by relative pronouns: who, whom, which, that, whose, where, when. This lesson explains defining and non-defining relative clauses for the BAC exam.

1. Defining Relative Clauses

Defining relative clauses provide essential information that identifies the noun. Without this information, the sentence would not be complete.

• Who/that: for people: “The man who lives next door is a doctor.”
• Which/that: for things: “The book which is on the table is mine.”
• Whose: for possession: “The student whose phone rang was embarrassed.”
• Where: for places: “The city where I was born is Algiers.”
• When: for times: “The day when we met was special.”

In defining clauses, “that” can replace “who” and “which”. The relative pronoun can be omitted if it is the object of the clause: “The film (that) I watched was great.”

2. Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Non-defining relative clauses provide extra information that is not essential. They are separated by commas. “That” cannot be used in non-defining clauses.

• “My father, who is a teacher, works in Algiers.”
• “Paris, which is the capital of France, is a beautiful city.”
• “My sister, whose car is red, is visiting us.”

Exercises

Exercise 1: Join the sentences using defining relative clauses: “I met a woman. She speaks five languages. / I bought a phone. It costs a lot.”

Exercise 2: Join using non-defining relative clauses: “Mr Smith is my teacher. He is very kind. / London is a big city. It has many museums.”

Exercise 3: Correct: “The man which lives here is friendly. / My brother, that lives in London, is coming.”

See also Conditional Sentences and Passive Voice.