Defining and non-defining relative clauses in English
How it works
Defining (‹defining›) and non-defining (‹non-defining›) relative clauses are important structures in English. A defining relative clause provides necessary information to identify the noun exactly, e.g. ‹The boy who is wearing a red shirt is my brother.› Without the relative clause, it would not be clear which boy is meant. Non-defining relative clauses provide additional but not necessary information and are separated by commas, e.g. ‹My brother, who is wearing a red shirt, is standing over there.› Here it is already clear who is meant, and the information is only supplementary. In English, ‹who› is usually used for people and ‹which› for things; in defining relative clauses, ‹that› is often also possible. Possession is expressed with ‹whose›, e.g. ‹I have a friend whose brother plays in our football team.› In non-defining relative clauses, ‹that› is not used.
Defining relative clauses are written without commas and, depending on the referent, can use ‹who›, ‹which›, ‹that› or ‹whose›. Non-defining relative clauses are written in commas and use, for example, ‹who›, ‹which› or ‹whose›, but never ‹that›.
An example
Choose the sentence with a non-defining relative clause: ‹My mother, who loves gardening, planted these roses.› or ‹The boy who is wearing a red shirt is my brother.›
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50 Exercises
To the learning unit →Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: English. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.