Defining relative clauses give detailed information defining a general word or expression.

We DO NOT use commas with defining relative clauses.

For example, Claire is in a room with six men. One man is talking to her and you ask somebody
whether she knows this man.
Here the relative clause defines which of the six men you mean.
e.g. Do you know the man (who) Claire is talking to?

Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped.

e.g. The car (that) we bought is red.
Watch out!
If the subjects in both parts of a sentence are the same, we cannot omit the pronoun, because it
becomes the subject of the clause.
e.g. The driver who took you to school is from York.

Join the two sentences together making the second sentence into the relative clause.
The relative pronoun should be the object of the relative clause.
e.g. The boy (that/who/whom) the man spoke to was crying.

1. They helped a neighbour. The neighbour was quite old.

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2. He sells flowers. The flowers are grown in Holland.
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3. We bought a tent. The tent was expensive.
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4. The client liked the sales rep. The sales rep was very friendly.
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5. She broke the plate. The plate belonged to my sister.
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6. I lost a book. The book was new.
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7. We spoke to the police. The police were very helpful.
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8. They live in a village. The village is near the sea.
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9. He is driving a car. The car is stolen.
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10. The boy is singing to a girl. The girl is very pretty.
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11. She works for a bank. The bank is Chinese.
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12. She lives in a flat. The flat is on the fifteenth floor.
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13. She has a bike. The bike was mine.
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14. We watched a film. It was in black and white.
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Non-defining relative clauses give additional information on something, but do not define it.
Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.

For example, Claire is in a room with only one man. The two are talking to each other and you ask
somebody whether she knows this man. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation
it is obvious which girl you mean.

e.g. Do you know the man, who is talking to Claire?

Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who or which may not be replaced with that.

Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.

e.g. Martin, who/whom we met yesterday, is very tall.

Join the two sentences together making the second sentence into the relative clause.
e.g. The boy, who was crying, spoke to the man.

1. The speaker gave a speech on economics. She had very long hair.
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2. John is taller than me. I play tennis with John.
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3. The 9 o’clock train was late. The train is normally on time.
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4. I was speaking to a woman about travelling. The woman had blue glasses.
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5. The new boss is talking to John. The new boss lives next door to me.
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6. The house is on fire. The house has a blue door.
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7. The boat is sinking. The boat has survived 2 world wars.
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8. The village is getting bigger every day. The village is 1,000 years old.
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9. The driver is taking the car to London. The driver is very happy.
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10. The boy is singing to a girl. The boy has no hair.
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11. The neighbours are going to complain. The neighbours have lived here 10 years.
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12. The old computer has stopped working. The computer used to belong to me.
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13. The plane is about to land. The plane was made in Russia.
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14. They ate a meal in the garden. The meal was cooked by a top chef.
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