Subordinate Clauses: Relative Clause

A "Relative Clause" is a dependent clause that add extra information to a noun of the main clause.

The relative conjunctions (or pronouns) are:

For people:

• who / whom / that 
• prep + whom (or whom / who / that + subj + verb + prep) 
• whose (possessive) 

For things:

• which / that 
• prep + which (or which subj + verb + prep) 
• whose / of which (possessive) 

The relative clauses are divided into two types: 

• defining relative clauses: clauses that are essential to the sentence.

            Examples:
            -  The child who is playing with the ball is my little brother.
            -  The car (that) I drive is old.
            -  The police are looking for the car whose the driver was masked.
            -  The child (who) Mark is playing with is my little brother.
           
            Note:             
            - if the pronoun is object of the defining clause, then it is optional.
              ex. The car (that) I drive is old.
              ex. The man (who) you saw yesterday is my boss. 
 

• non-defining relative clauses: clauses that add only extra information.

            Examples:
            -  The car, which was a taxi, exploded.
            -  Mrs Pratt, who I like very much, is my teacher.
            -  That house, whose roof is red, is Mark’s.
    
            Note:
            - "that" is not used in the 'non-defining relative clause'.