Look at these examples to see how defining relative clauses are used.
Are you the one who sent me the email?
The phone which has the most features is also the most expensive.
This is the video that I wanted to show you.
The person they spoke to was really helpful.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Relative clauses give us information about the person or thing mentioned.
Defining relative clauses give us essential information – information that tells us who or what we are talking about.
The woman who lives next door works in a bank.
These are the flights that have been cancelled.
We usually use a relative pronoun or adverb to start a defining relative clause: who, which, that, when, where or whose.
who/that
We can use who or that to talk about people. that is more common and a bit more informal.
She's the woman who cuts my hair.
He's the man that I met at the conference.
which/that
We can use which or that to talk about things. that is more common and a bit more informal.
There was a one-year guarantee which came with the TV.
The laptop that I bought last week has started making a strange noise!
Other pronouns
when can refer to a time.
Summer is the season when I'm happiest.
where can refer to a place.
That's the stadium where Real Madrid play.
whose refers to the person that something belongs to.
He's a musician whose albums have sold millions.
Omitting the relative pronoun
Sometimes we can leave out the relative pronoun. For example, we can usually leave out who, which or that if it is followed by a subject.
The assistant [that] we met was really kind.
(we = subject, can omit that)
We can't usually leave it out if it is followed by a verb.
The assistant that helped us was really kind.
(helped = verb, can't omit that)
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Dear, here is one more question: when we use “which” instead of “why”, do we use both “in/on/at which” and “which…..in/on/at” Many thanks.
Hello KatherineThu,
You can replace the relative adverbs why, where and when with which and a pronoun. The pronoun depends on the original sentence and, yes, it can be before the relative pronoun or at the end of the clause:
I visited the house where she lives > I visited the house in which she lives / I visited the house which she lives in
We met on the day when I graduated > We met on the day on which I graduated > We met on the day which I graduated on
That's the reason why she did it > That's the reason for which she did it > That's the reason which she did it for
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear,
Need I change “a” into “the” in a relative clause?
They ate at a restaurant. It serves only vegan dishes=> They ate at a restaurant which serves only vegan dishes.
or
They ate at a restaurant which serves only vegan dishes.
Many thanks 💌
Hello KatherineThu,
Your sentences are identical! I presume you meant to change 'a restaurant' to 'the restaurant'.
There is no need to change the article in the relative clause. You would only use 'the' if both the speaker and the listener know which restaurant you mean, which is clearly not the case here as it is the first time the speaker is referencing it.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sir,
I would like to know whether the following sentence is grammatically correct. Is its syntax correct?
Sentence:
I politely request that you have my election duty cancelled.
Please clear my doubt.
Hello amitagnihotri585,
Yes, that is correct -- well done! It would also be correct to say 'I politely request that my election duty be cancelled'.
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
There is a problem with these exercises. It isn't possible to do all 16 questions.
Hello Sowerbicci,
The exercises seem to be working fine to me. There are 8 questions in Task 1 and 8 questions in Task 2, making 16 in all, and all are accessible. If you are having trouble, please explain what happens and we'll try to help.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hai,
I am bit confused about the tense that we should use in the relative clause. When i am talking about past ,which one in the below is correct?
Finding a pair of shoes that go well with the frock was hard.
Or
Finding a pair of shoes that went well with the frock was hard.
Hello FathimaFrk,
Both 'go' and 'went' can be correct here.
When you say this, if you are thinking more of all the time you spent that day looking for the shoes, i.e. more about the past, then 'went' is the more appropriate choice. The past tense form draws attention to the past action.
But if you are thinking more about the frock and how unusual it is in general, then 'go' is more appropriate. The present tense draws more attention to the frock.
We often use the present tense when talking about general truths, for example, the sun rises in the morning, ice is cold, etc. In this case, we'd be saying that it's difficult to find accessories to match the frock.
Does that make sense?
Best wishes,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team