Relative pronouns and Relative Clauses - Introduction

We use relative pronouns to join together two ideas.

Look at these two sentences.

I have a friend. He works in a hospital.

It is much simpler to join the two ideas together. To join the sentences together we use a relative pronoun: who.

I have a friend who works in a hospital.

When we join the sentences together we don’t need to repeat the pronoun. It is clear who we are talking about because we mention the friend in the first clause.

I have a friend who he works in a hospital.

This sentence is composed of two clauses.

I have a friend    + who works in a hospital.

The main clause + The relative clause

Click on the links below to learn more about Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses

Relative Pronouns and Relative Adverbs

Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses