Relative clauses

What you will practice

• Use who for people and which for things.
• Use that in a defining clause.
• Keep that out of a non-defining clause and add commas.

Explanation

Defining clauses

A defining clause identifies the noun. There is no comma: The teacher who helped me is here. who is the subject of helped. For a thing, use which or that: The book which I bought is new. who is not the choice for a thing, and which is not the choice for a person in this lesson.

that

In a defining clause, that can stand for a person or a thing: The teacher that helped me, The book that I bought. It does not change the meaning here. where is for a place: the city where I live. Do not replace where with who.

Extra information

A non-defining clause adds extra information about a noun that is already identified. It uses commas, and it does not use that: My brother, who lives in Rome, is a doctor. The commas show that you have only that brother in mind, and the clause is additional. My brother that lives in Rome would instead pick him out from other brothers.

Examples

1. The teacher who helped me is here.identifying a person
2. The book which I bought is new.identifying a thing
3. The book that I bought is new.that for a thing
4. the city where I livea place
5. My brother, who lives in Rome, is a doctor.extra information about a known person

Common mistakes

• The man which called uses the thing pronoun for a person. Use who or, in a defining clause, that.
• Do not drop the commas and keep who if you mean extra information. The commas are part of that pattern.