Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are dependent clauses that modify nouns, providing additional information about them. A simple noun like "girl" can be expanded with a relative clause: "the girl who lived next door," "the girl that I met yesterday," "the girl whose parents were travelers." Relative clauses use relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, that) to connect the main clause to the additional information. Mastering relative clauses allows you to create more sophisticated, complex sentences that provide detailed information without becoming unwieldy. They're essential for academic writing, sophisticated narrative, and precise description.

Structure of Relative Clauses: Basic Patterns

A relative clause has a basic structure:

Antecedent + Relative Pronoun + Clause

"The book [which I read yesterday] was fascinating."

• Antecedent: "the book" (the noun being modified)
• Relative pronoun: "which"
• Relative clause: "which I read yesterday"

The relative pronoun serves two functions: it introduces the relative clause AND it represents the antecedent within the clause. In "which I read yesterday," "which" stands for "the book."

Relative Pronouns: Choosing the Right One

Who/whom refer to people:

• "The teacher who helped me" (subject of relative clause)
• "The teacher whom I thanked" (object of relative clause)
• Modern English increasingly uses "who" for both subject and object, though formal writing maintains the distinction

Whose shows possession:

• "The woman whose car was stolen"
• "The students whose projects were selected"

Which refers to things:

• "The computer which crashed"
• "The book which I loved"

That can refer to people or things:

• "The teacher that helped me"
• "The book that I loved"
• "That" is often used in informal speech and contemporary writing where "who" or "which" would be more formal

Where refers to place:

• "The town where I grew up"
• "The library where we study"

When refers to time:

• "The day when everything changed"
• "The year when he was born"

Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Defining (restrictive) relative clauses provide essential information that identifies which specific noun you're talking about:

"The student who scored highest received a prize."

The clause "who scored highest" is essential—it identifies which student received the prize. Without this clause, we wouldn't know which student is being discussed. Defining clauses are NOT surrounded by commas.

Non-defining (non-restrictive) relative clauses provide additional information about a noun that's already identified:

"Maria, who scored highest, received a prize."

Here, Maria is already identified by name. The clause "who scored highest" provides additional information but isn't essential for identification. Non-defining clauses ARE surrounded by commas.

The choice between defining and non-defining affects meaning:

• "The houses which are painted blue belong to the city" (defining—only specific blue houses belong to the city)
• "The houses, which are painted blue, belong to the city" (non-defining—all houses happen to be blue, and all belong to the city)

Relative Clauses with Prepositions

When a preposition is involved, it can be placed at the beginning of the relative clause (formal) or at the end (informal):

Formal: "The person to whom I spoke..." Informal: "The person I spoke to..."

Formal: "The issue about which we disagreed..." Informal: "The issue we disagreed about..."

Contemporary English increasingly accepts prepositions at the end of relative clauses, even in formal writing, though very formal academic writing may still place prepositions at the beginning.

Omitting the Relative Pronoun

In many cases, especially when the relative pronoun is the object of the clause, the relative pronoun can be omitted:

"The book I read yesterday..." (instead of "The book that I read yesterday...") "The teacher I thanked..." (instead of "The teacher whom I thanked...")

However, the relative pronoun cannot be omitted if it's the subject:

"The teacher who helped me..." (NOT "The teacher helped me...")

This flexibility allows for more concise writing while maintaining clarity.

Complex Sentences with Multiple Relative Clauses

Relative clauses can be embedded within each other or chained together:

"The book that the author who won the prize wrote..." "The woman whom I met in the city where I grew up..."

While grammatically correct, multiple embedded relative clauses can become difficult to parse. For clarity, it's often better to break complex sentences into separate sentences.

Using Relative Clauses for Sophisticated Writing

In academic and literary writing, relative clauses allow you to:

Provide specific information without creating new sentences: "The research, which was conducted over five years, revealed..."

Create elegant descriptive passages: "The city where ancient temples stood beside modern skyscrapers..."

Develop ideas progressively: "The theory that Einstein proposed, which revolutionized physics, and which remains central to modern science..."

Overusing relative clauses can create dense, difficult prose, but used judiciously, they enhance sophistication and precision.

Common Mistakes and Issues

• Mismatching the relative pronoun to the antecedent: Using "which" for people or "who" for things
• Comma placement errors: Misplacing or omitting commas in non-defining clauses
• Confusing that and which: "That" is often used in defining clauses; "which" in non-defining (though usage varies by dialect)
• Dangling relative clauses: Creating confusion about which noun is being modified: "I saw the movie with my friend that was terrible" (was the movie or the friend terrible?)

Related Concepts

Complex-Sentence-Structure • Connecting-Ideas

Socratic Questions

1. What is the difference between a defining and non-defining relative clause? How does punctuation signal this difference?

1. Why can you omit a relative pronoun in some cases but not others? What's the rule that determines when omission is possible?

1. In the sentence "The teacher who helped me" versus "The teacher, who helped me," what's the difference in meaning? How does the comma change the message?

1. Relative clauses allow you to combine information from multiple sentences into one. When is this economical, and when does it create unclear prose? How many relative clauses can you nest before clarity suffers?

1. How would your writing change if you couldn't use relative clauses? What would be more difficult to express?