Relative clauses

  • B1 · Intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min

Relative clauses: clauses that tell us which one (the daughter who became a judge) and clauses with commas that add extra information (Beatrice, who was a principal, …). Who, that, which, where and whose, when you can leave out the relative word, and never "that" after a comma. From a family-tree blog to a guessing game.

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whowherewhichwhose

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2Reading: Joanna's family treeReading comprehension
  3. 3What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  4. 4Which one, or extra information?Grammar exercise
  5. 5How relative clauses workGrammar rule
  6. 6Choose the right wordGrammar exercise
  7. 7Can you leave it out?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Commas: who, which, where or whose?Grammar exercise
  9. 9Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  10. 10Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  11. 11Describe it, don't name itSpeaking practice
  12. 12About youGrammar exercise
  13. 13Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: join the sentencesGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: a place or a personDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about your family before we start.

  1. Do you know where your grandparents grew up?
  2. Is there someone in your family who has an interesting story?
  3. Do you have relatives who live in another country?

Grammar rule

How relative clauses work

Two kinds of relative clauses

Which one? (no commas)Extra information (commas)
Peoplethe daughter who (or that) became a judgeBeatrice, who was a principal, lives in France.
Thingsa house that (or which) is very oldI'm making a family tree, which I'll give to Grandma.
Placesthe restaurant where we had dinnerParis, where Gregory lives, is beautiful.
Possessiona painter whose work I loveLily, whose paintings are in New York, is the youngest.

where = there: the restaurant where we had dinner (we had dinner there). When you would say it, not there, use which or that, even for a place: Paris, which I love (I love it) · a city that has great food (it has great food).

With commas, never use that: Beatrice, that was a principal, … is wrong. In American English, that is more common than which in clauses without commas.

Leaving out who, that or which

In a clause without commas, you can leave out who, that or which when another subject comes after it:

  • Rachel is the cousin (that) I liked most. (I liked her.)
  • the photo (that) my dad found (My dad found it.)

You can't leave it out when it is the subject of the clause (Fiona is the daughter who became a judge, not Fiona is the daughter became a judge), or in a clause with commas.

when for times

the day when we met · the summer when we went to Ireland (or: the day we met)

whose = his, her, its or their: a man whose dog barks all night. who's = who is or who has: Who's coming tonight?

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