DEFINING AND NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

L. I. Laura Laguna Roque

Autor

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What would you do to join these two sentences?

•My aunt was an adult.

•She impressed me a lot as a child.

•Mr. Dival was a very good carpenter.

•He had two big dogs.

What about these?As you can see they

are joined by a relative pronoun

My aunt was an adult who impressed me a lot as a child.

Mr. Dival, who had two big dogs, was a very good carpenter.

Mr. Dival, whose two dogs were big, was a very good carpenter.

These sentences are called …

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Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are usually found after a noun or a noun

phrase.

They describe or give information about the person or thing

being talked or written about.

You can find two types of Relative clauses:

Defing relative clauses

and

Non- defining relative clauses •SiguienteSiguiente•AnteriorAnterior

Defining Relative Clauses

• The information in this type of clause is essential to the

meaning of the main clause.

Example: He was the only man

• If the defining clause is taken away, the meaning of the

main clause is not clear.

who answered my question.

Example: He was the only man.

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I like friends who never let me down.

That is the man whose dog bit my son.

This is the hotel where they stay on vacation.

We want a car which doesn’t spend too much gas.

Here you have more examples:

Check that there are no commas

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Non - Defining Relative Clauses

•The information in this type of clause is extra.

Example: Mr. Brown, who lived in the big house, was very

tall and strong.

•If the non – defining clause is taken away, the meaning

of the main clause is still clear.

Example: Mr. Brown was very tall and strong.

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My grandfather, who is 75 years old, is still working.

That car, which he loves, had a crash last year.

This place, where many people come, was built in Greek times.

The old lady, whose son was a doctor, traveled around the world.

Here you have more examples:

Check the use of commas

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