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GLOW: Grammar Lessons On the Web For the exclusive use of employees of the U.S. Department of State--by Tillyer Associates |
Relative Clauses
Relative clauses modify (tell more about) nouns in a sentence. They are dependent clauses beginning with who, whom*, that**, which, or whose.
| The man who is installing the new alarm system in the consulate has a security clearance. |
The relative clause who is installing the new alarm system in the consulate tells us which man we are talking about.
Use who to refer to people. Use that to refer to people or things.
| The worker who quit today is my uncle. |
| The worker that quit today is my uncle. |
| The tools that I was using yesterday belong to him. |
Whose is used to show possession. Whose usually refers to people, but it can refer to things.
| The man whose tools I was using is my uncle. |
| The limousine whose air conditioner we just fixed is being used already. |
A relative clause can be restrictive (it identifies or defines the noun it follows) or nonrestrictive (it adds extra information about noun it follows).
Here are some sentences with restrictive relative clauses:
| The clerk gave the man the application
that he asked for. <or> The clerk gave the man the application he asked for. |
| The new policy that we
discussed last Wednesday will begin today. <or> The new policy we discussed last Wednesday will begin today. |
| The woman whose visa request was denied would like to speak with you. |
Here are some sentences with nonrestrictive relative clauses:
| The new security guards, who still need a picture IDs, will start today. |
| The conference, which is held in Salzburg every November, will focus on press freedom this year. |
| The new ambassador, whose mother was also an ambassador, will arrive next week. |
Here is a comparison of restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses:
| Restrictive Clauses | Nonrestrictive Clauses | |
| Purpose | define or identify the noun they follow | add extra information about the noun they follow |
| Relative pronouns | who, whom, that, which, whose | who, whom, which, whose |
| Omit pronouns? | That and
which may be omitted. Who may sometimes be omitted. Whose may not be omitted. |
Relative pronouns may not be omitted. |
| commas | Do not set off restrictive clauses with commas. | Set off nonrestrictive clauses with commas. |
You must set off nonrestrictive relative clauses with commas to prevent confusion.
Compare these sentences:
| The consulates which are under security alert have hired extra guards. |
| The consulates, which are under security alert, have hired extra guards. |
The first sentence indicates that only some consulates have declared security alerts and they have hired the extra guards. The second sentence indicates that all the consulates are under security alert and have hired extra guards.
*Whom is used to identify or define the object in a sentence only. Its use is formal and traditional. It is acceptable to substitute who for whom in modern American English.
**That is used with restrictive relative clauses only.