English Grammar Learning Page 1 / 2

Relative Clauses

We use relative clauses to connect 2 sentences using who, which, that, whose or where. whowhichthatwhosewherewho

whichthatdefiningwhosewhere

ex) I saw Khaled. He lives in Egypt. → I saw Khaled who lives in Egypt.KhaledKhaledhe

who

ex) Father bought a car. It is BMW. → Father bought a car which is BMW.carcarit

which

ex) I know the man. His son is my friend. → I know the man whose son is my friend.manmanhis

whose

ex) I saw the place. The place I was born. → I saw the place where I was born.placeplaceplace

where

1 defining

2 non-defining

Defining Relative Clauses

ex) We helped the boy. He couldn’t find his book. → We helped the boy who couldn’t find his book.

thatwho whichdefining

whosewhere

ex) We helped the boy. He couldn’t find his book. → We helped the boy who/that couldn’t find his book.

ex) I saw Khaled. He lives in Paris. → I saw Khaled who/that lives in Paris.

ex) Father bought a car. It is BMW. → Father bought a car which/that is BMW.

ex) I know the man. His son is my friend. → I know the man whose son is my friend.

ex) I saw the place. The place I was born. → I saw the place where I was born.

English Grammar Learning Page 2 / 2

Non-defining Relative Clauses

ex) Ali has two sons. They live with him. → Ali has two sons, who live with him.

ex) John is the hero of the tale. He lives in USA. → John, who lives in USA, is the hero of the tale.

thatwho whichnon-defining

John

non-defining

:Note

Examples: Join the sentences below to make relative clauses (one long sentence) using Who,

which, whose, where or that. Use that and leave the relative pronoun where possible:

1. Fairy stories often feature animal. They can talk.

Fairy stories often feature animal which/that can talk.

2. Jack is the boy. He lives with his mother.

Jack is the boy who/that lives with his mother.

3. This is the book. I borrowed it.

This is the book I borrowed.

4. This is the village. The village I was born.

This is the village I was born.

5. This is the man. The man’s car is beautiful.

This is the man whose car is beautiful.

6. Khaled has a good camera. He bought it last year.

Khaled has a good camera, which he bought last year.

7. Khaled has a good camera. He is from Dubai.

Khaled, who is from Dubai, has a good camera.

Best wishes

EGL4Arab