Non-defining relative clauses
Read this sentence: My cat, who is called Frisky, watches ‘Star Trek’.
The clause ‘who is called Frisky’ gives extra information. If we take out this clause, we still have a meaningful sentences. This is called a non-defining relative clause and is separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Defining relative clauses
Read this sentence: The man who lives upstairs likes Beethoven.
The clause ‘who lives upstairs’ is a defining relative clause because it defines the suject of the sentence, The man’. It is essential to the meaning of the sentence and cannot be omitted. It is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. You use defining relative clauses to say exactly which person or thing you are talking about.
EXERCISE 1
Match each number with the correct relative clause:
The British Museum, _____1______, is in central London.
Picasso, _____2______, was a world-famous painter.
The Parthenon, _______3_______, is in Athens.
In 1945, _____4_______, my mother and father got married.
He went to the Red lion, _____5_____, for a beer.
In the gallery, there were lots of paintings, ______6________.
A. who died in 1973
B. which is over 2,000 years old
C. when the Second World War ended
D. some of which were over 200 years old
E. where we saw the Elgin Marbles
F. which is his favourite pub
EXERCISE 2 | Defining relative clauses
Match the following to complete the sentences with the correct relative clause:
| 1. That’s the man______________!
2. Is this the shed _______________? 3. I still remember the poems______________. 4. She saw the woman_________________. 5. This is the exact place_______________. |
A. where you milk the cows
B. where the accident happened C. who stole the Mona Lisa D. which we learnt at school E. who can play the piano with her toes |
EXERCISE 3 | that as subject in relative clause
Rewrite the following sentences as in the example:
e.g. The book belongs to Dimitris.
I borrowed the book that belongs to Dimitris.
1. The British museum contains the Elgin Marbles.
We went to the British museum_____________________.
2. I found a wallet. It had the initials J.B. on it.
I gave the wallet________________ to the police.
3. The door led to the garden.
I opened the door_______________________.
4. The boys ran away from the building,
Those are___________________________.
5. The blue Mercedes crashed into a wall.
He’s the owner of______________________.