اللغة الإنجليزية — Grammar: Relative Clauses (Defining and Non-Defining) — 3 ثانوي — شعبة آداب — بكالوريا — المنهاج الجزائري

اللغة الإنجليزية — Grammar: Relative Clauses (Defining and Non-Defining) — 3 ثانوي — شعبة آداب — بكالوريا — المنهاج الجزائري

Relative clauses (also called adjective clauses) are used to give additional information about a noun or pronoun. They begin with relative pronouns: who, whom, which, that, whose.

1. Relative Pronouns

• Who: for people (subject). Ex: The man who lives next door is a doctor.
• Whom: for people (object – formal). Ex: The woman whom you met is my aunt.
• Which: for animals and things. Ex: The book which is on the table is mine.
• That: for people, animals, and things (in defining clauses). Ex: The car that I bought is red.
• Whose: for possession (people and things). Ex: The student whose phone rang was embarrassed.

2. Defining Relative Clauses

Give essential information about the noun. Without this information, the sentence meaning is incomplete. No commas are used.

Examples:

• The teacher who teaches English is very kind.
• I read the book that you recommended.
• The house which has a red door is for sale.

In defining relative clauses, who can replace whom in informal English, and that can replace who/which.

3. Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Give extra, non-essential information about the noun. The sentence is still clear without it. Commas are used around the clause.

Examples:

• My mother, who is 60 years old, still works every day.
• Paris, which is the capital of France, is a beautiful city.
• Mr. Smith, whom I admire greatly, is retiring.

In non-defining clauses, that cannot replace who/which.

4. Omission of the Relative Pronoun

In defining clauses, the relative pronoun can be omitted when it is the object of the clause:

• The film (that) I watched was boring. (object → can omit)
• The person who called was my boss. (subject → cannot omit)

5. Prepositions in Relative Clauses

Formal: The person to whom you spoke is the manager.
Informal: The person who/that you spoke to is the manager.

Exercises

Combine the sentences using relative clauses:

1. I met a woman. She works at the hospital.
2. This is the house. I grew up in it.
3. My brother is an engineer. He lives in Canada.

4. The students passed the exam. Their results were excellent.

Related Lessons

For more English grammar:
Conditional Sentences and
Used to / Be Used to / Get Used to.

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