Defining and non-defining relative clauses

1. DEFINING AND NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

DEFINING AND NONDEFINING RELATIVE
CLAUSES

2. Read the sentences. Are they the same or different?

Ann’s sister who is a
Ann’s sister, who is a
tennis champion
visited her last
weekend.
tennis champion,
visited her last
weekend.
Has Ann got more
Has Ann got more
than one sister?
YES
than one sister?
NO

3. Diapositiva 3

Defining relative clauses
They give ESSENTIAL
INFORMATION
We DON’T USE COMMAS in
them.
Ann’s sister who is a tennis
champion visited her last
weekend.
The table whose legs are broken is
at the back of the classroom.

4. Diapositiva 4

Non-defining relative clauses
They give EXTRA INFORMATION
We USE COMMAS in them
Ann’s sister, who is a tennis
champion, visited her last week.
(We probably know that Ann has got only one
sisiter)
Charles Dickens, whose novel Oliver
Twist we read last term, was born
two hundred years ago.
(We already know that Ch.Dickens wrote
Oliver Twist)

5. Diapositiva 5

Non-defining relative clauses are
also called non-essential relative
clauses.
VERY
You cannot omit the pronoun
in non-defining relative clauses.
IMPORTANT
That cannot replace who or
which.