175 1 Clauses giving essential information (= defining relative clauses) In a defining relative clause, you add information that is essential for the sentence to make sense. You want to describe what somebody/ something does or is. (Who/which is the subject of the relative clause.) You want to describe what somebody/ something ELSE does or is. (Who/ which is the object of the relative clause.) In this type of relative clause, you can leave out the relative pronoun (= contact clause). I’m the kind of person who likes to joke around with others./An online presence which makes you look lazy is bad for you. (= the online presence makes you look lazy) I saw the picture which Otis uploaded to the school website. (= Otis uploaded the picture) I saw the picture Otis uploaded to the school website. Note: In both types of defining relative clauses, you can replace who and which with that, especially in informal contexts: I’m the kind of person that likes to joke around with others. An online presence that makes you look lazy is bad for you. You cannot use who or which after all, everything, nothing, the only and superlatives: I’ve told you all (that) I know./Is this the best (that) you can do? You want to describe who or what something belongs to. You want to talk about when and where something takes place, or why something has happened. The man whose car has been stolen is over there. This is the car whose paint has been scratched. That was the moment (when) I knew I was wrong. He came back to the place (where) he had been born. Maybe this is the reason (why) he always looks grumpy. 2 Clauses giving additional information (= non-defining relative clauses) In a non-defining relative clause, you add (interesting) information that is not essential. As it is not essential, you put this information between commas. Also, you cannot use that as a relative pronoun and you cannot leave out the relative pronoun. You want to add information about somebody/something. You want to add information about an action. Our English language assistant, who is from Newcastle, speaks with a really strong accent. I like our area best in September, when it’s not so hot anymore and all the leaves are turning red. Tom eats his own pizza and any leftovers, which is really gross./Steve left the room, which didn’t surprise me. Grammar revisited Relative clauses You use relative clauses to add information or detail to nouns, noun phrases or even whole clauses. Relative clauses are usually connected to the main clause of a sentence by a relative pronoun. You can use these relative pronouns: who – for people which – for things whose – to say who or what something belongs to where – for places when – for time why – for reasons Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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