Relative clauses are components of a sentence that are not necessary for its core meaning. While they can contribute to the overall message, their absence does not disrupt the sentence’s grammatical structure. In English, there exist two main categories of relative clauses. It’s crucial to differentiate between these categories as it influences the selection of the pronoun employed to introduce the clause.
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Defining clauses
A defining or descriptive clause indicates the particular individual or object we are discussing within a larger collection of individuals or objects. If a defining relative clause is omitted, the sentence’s significance undergoes a notable alteration. A defining relative clause is not set apart from the remainder of the sentence by commas or parentheses.
Examples
- The woman who visited me in the hospital was very kind.
- The umbrella that I bought last week is already broken.
- The man who stole my backpack has been arrested.
- The weather that we had this summer was beautiful.
Non-defining clauses
A non-defining or supplementary clause provides additional details about the individual or object under discussion. Should a non-defining relative clause be excluded from a sentence, certain specifics are forfeited, yet the fundamental meaning of the sentence persists. Non-defining relative clauses are consistently marked off from the rest of the sentence using commas or parentheses.
Examples
- The farmer, whose name was Fred, sold us 10 pounds of potatoes.
- Elephants, which are the largest land mammals, live in herds of 10 or more adults.
- The author, who graduated from the same university I did, gave a wonderful presentation.
- My mother, who is 86, lives in Paris.
