What are the two types of relative clauses?
Generally, there are two types of relative clauses: restrictive (defining) clause and non-restrictive (non-defining) clause. In both types of clauses, the relative pronoun can function as a subject, an object, or a possessive pronoun (“whose”).
What are the non-defining relative clauses?
Non-defining relative clauses (also known as non-restrictive, or parenthetical, clauses) provide some additional information that is not essential and may be omitted without affecting the contents of the sentence.
What is the difference between that and which in relative clauses?
The grammatical explanation is that “which” introduces a non-essential clause, meaning that it doesn’t define the noun it’s describing, while “that” introduces an essential clause, meaning that it clarifies exactly which noun the sentence is about.
What is the difference between defining and non-defining?
Defining relative clauses add essential information to a sentence and the clause cannot be omitted. Non-defining relative clauses add non-essential information to a sentence and can be left out of a sentence without changing it’s meaning.
What are defining relative clause?
Relative clauses give us information about the person or thing mentioned. Defining relative clauses give us essential information – information that tells us who or what we are talking about. We usually use a relative pronoun or adverb to start a defining relative clause: who, which, that, when, where or whose.
What is the meaning of non-defining clause?
Non-defining relative clauses are composed of a relative pronoun, a verb, and optional other elements such as the subject or object of the verb. Commas or parentheses are always used to separate non-defining relative clauses from the rest of the sentence.
What is the difference between using that and which?
The standard rule of grammar is that the usage of that vs. which depends upon whether the following clause is restrictive or non-restrictive. “That” is used to indicate a specific object, item, person, condition, etc., while “which” is used to add information to objects, items, people, situations, etc.
What is relative clause and examples?
Relative clauses are clauses starting with the relative pronouns who*, that, which, whose, where, when. They are most often used to define or identify the noun that precedes them. Here are some examples: Do you know the girl who started in grade 7 last week? Can I have the pencil that I gave you this morning?
What is a defining relative clause?
How do you teach a defining relative clause?
Relatively Speaking 5 Strategies for Teaching Relative Clauses
- Identify In-text.
- Introduce the Structure.
- Start to Add Relative Clauses to Sentences.
- Use Scrambled Sentences.
- Create Relevant Writing Tasks.
What is meant by defining relative clause?
What are the rules of relative clauses?
Some Rules for Relative Clauses: Relative clauses are formed with the pronouns: who, which, whose, or that and with the adverbs when, where, or why. To know which pronoun to use, look carefully at the relative clause itself. Who refers to people, which refers to things, and that refers to people or things.
What is an example of a relative clause?
A relative clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun or a noun phrase. Example: The man who is smoking is the murderer. The noun the man is modified by the relative clause who is smoking. Relative clauses give essential information to define or identify the person or thing we are talking about.
What is an essential relative clause?
An essential clause is a relative clause that limits a general, ambiguous noun. The essential clause tells the reader which one of many the writer means. Read these examples: The man who ordered another double anchovy pizza claims to have a pet dolphin in his backyard pool.
What are relative clauses?
A relative clause can be used to give additional information about a noun. They are introduced by a relative pronoun like ‘that’, ‘which’, ‘who’, ‘whose’, ‘where’ and ‘when’. For example: I won’t stand by the man who smells of slime. In this example, the relative clause is ‘who smells of slime’. It provides more information about the man.