Home » Structure » Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses » Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses
There are two main types of relative clauses
The simplest form of defining relative clause is a definition.
A doctor is a person who works in a hospital.
We use defining relative clauses to specify or identify who or what we are talking about.
Look at this example:
John takes his friend Pete to watch a football game. Another friend of John’s, Alan, is participating in the match. Peter asks: Which one is your friend? John answers:
My friend Alan is the guy who is wearing the red shoes.
The red shoes identify John’s friend.
In defining relative clauses we can sometimes omit the relative pronoun. We can do this when:
The relative pronoun is not followed by a verb.
For example: Alan is the guy (who) Peter introduced me to.
If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is an object pronoun.
We cannot omit the relative pronoun if it is followed by a verb.
For example: My friend is the guy who is wearing the red shoes.
If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun.
Non-defining relative clauses give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.
For example: John’s friend, who I met last week, plays football really well.
‘who I met last week’ is not important. We can omit it and the sentence still makes sense.
For example: John’s friend plays football really well.
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