100 Defining and Non Defining Relative Clauses Examples

100 Defining and Non Defining Relative Clauses Examples





Relative Clauses

Relative Clauses are a structure used in English to combine two sentences with a connection between them. Although it may seem a little scary and difficult for people who learn English, it is actually easy and fun. In English, words such as “who, which, that, who, where” are used to connect two sentences that have a relationship between them, and these words are called “Relative Pronoun”. Let’s examine the words “who, which, and that” from relative pronouns and the usage areas of these words.

Who: As is known, the word ‘who’ is often used in English. If we qualify a person in two existing sentences, then ‘who’ is used to connect the two sentences. For example;

  • Melissa is my sister.
  • Melissa is from France.





Now let’s link these two sentences using the relative clause. Since what is qualified in both sentences is the subject, ‘who’ is used here as the appropriate relative pronoun. According to the situation we want to qualify, these sentences can be linked in two different ways.

  • Melissa who is my sister is from France.
  • Melissa who is from France is my sister.

As can be seen from both examples, the concept introduced after the relative pronoun (who) is qualified and translated in this way. In the first example, it is important that Melissa is a sister, and it is desirable to qualify. But in the second example, Melissa must be from France, and this is qualified.

Which: ‘Which’ relative clause is a relative pronoun used in English to qualify objects and animals. If the animal or object is what you want to qualify in the two existing sentences, ‘which’ is used.




That: Relative clause, ‘that’ can be used as a relative pronoun instead of ‘who’ and ‘which’ in some cases. But that would not be possible in any case.

If in the sentence, the comma on the left side of the relative pronoun or proposition (in, on, at, etc.) if there is ‘who’ and ‘which’ instead of ‘that’ can certainly not be used. If we want to use ‘that’ instead of ‘who’ and ‘which’ in the sentence, let’s note that there are no commas and propositions on the left side of the relative pronoun.

Note: If you are going to install a relative clause with a word indicating the time in it, and you do not know whether to use “when” or “which/that”, evaluate the sentence as a non-relative clause. When specifying time in English, a tense preposition such as ‘in, on and at’ is necessarily used. If you have used a preposition of time before the word expressing time, or if you can use “then” instead of that word, that word is an adverb of time, and you must use “when” when qualifying that word in the relative clause.

Subtraction of Relative Clauses From Sentence

In written formal English, it is best not to exclude relative pronoun expressions (which, who, that, when, why) from the sentence. But in informal, street English, these phrases are usually excluded from the sentence. Of course, there are situations where this is not possible.

If the expression annotated in an annotated sentence is the object of the sentence, relative pronoun expressions (which, who, that, when, why) can be removed from the sentence.

If it’s a subject, it can’t be removed.

Defining Relative Clauses

It is a structure that defines a name and makes it distinctive. For example, if we just say ‘the woman is looking at you’, the people across us will not understand who we are talking about and “which woman?” she needs to ask a question. However, if we say ‘the woman who is standing in front of the my house is looking at you’, we will define the woman and the people who listen to us do not need to ask the question ‘which woman’. If the name described in an adjective clause is not evident and becomes apparent thanks to the relative clause, such situations are called defining relative clauses. “Who” is used when describing people, and “which” is used when describing a lifeless name. ‘That’ is possible in both cases. For example:



  • Tomas congratulated the student that / who got the highest mark.

Non – Defining Relative Clauses

In such relative clauses section, the name in question does not need to be characterized. It is aimed to give extra information about the name already known and understood by the other party and the relative clause is separated from the main sentences. For example:

  • My mother, who loves me very much, has made many sacrifices for my happiness.

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