Relative clauses-restrictive-non-restrictive relative clauses

Relative clauses

A relative clause is one kind of dependent clause. It has a subject and verb, but can’t stand alone as a sentence. It is sometimes called an “adjective clause” because it functions like an adjective—it gives more information about a noun. A relative clause always begins with a “relative pronoun,” which substitutes for a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun when sentences are combined.

•      A relative clause is part of sentence that describe the person or thing we are talking about.
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• -      A restrictive relative clause gives necessary information about who or what we are talking about. E.g.:  The car which is in from of the house is mine.
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• -      A non-restrictive relative clause gives additional (extra) information. Non-restri ctive clauses are separated by commas.  E.g.: Marrakech, which is called the red city , is the tourism capital of Morocco.
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• -     If the relative pronoun is followed by a noun or pronoun, the relative pronoun is an object pronoun.
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• -       Object pronouns can be omitted in defining relative clauses. E.g.: Where’s the car (which) you bought last week?

-          Where’s the car you bought last week?

Restrictive relative clause	Person	Object
Subject	Who, that	Which, that
Object	Who, whom, that, ɸ	Which, that, ɸ
Possessive	Whose
Non-restrictive relative clause	Person	Object
Subject	Who	which
Object	Who, whom	which
Possessive	whose	Whose, of which