Relative clauses: who, which, that, whose
Relative clauses say which person or thing you mean, or add information about them, without starting a new sentence.
The difference between defining and non-defining clauses changes the punctuation and whether you can use that. At C1, reduced relative clauses make writing more concise.
The essentials
- Who for people, which for things, that for either in defining clauses: The woman who lives next door is a nurse.
- Whose for possession, where for places: the man whose car was stolen, the town where I grew up.
- Non-defining clauses add extra information between commas and never use that: My brother, who lives in Berlin, is visiting.
- Reduced relative clauses drop who / which + be: The woman sitting by the window is my boss.
Every lesson on this topic
Each lesson has a full explanation, examples, common mistakes and practice questions.
B1 (English at B1)
- The woman who lives next door: relative clauses: who, which, that, whose and where to say exactly which person, thing or place you mean
B2 (English at B2)
- My brother, who lives in Berlin…: adding information: Non-defining relative clauses add extra information with commas, and never use that
C1 (English at C1)
- The woman sitting by the window: reduced relative clauses: Shorten relative clauses with -ing, a past participle or a to-infinitive
Other topics
- Present perfect or past simple?
- Talking about the past: English past tenses
- English conditionals: first, second, third and mixed
- English modal verbs: must, have to, should and more
- Talking about the future in English
- The passive in English
- Reported speech and reporting verbs
- Linking words: although, despite, however, whereas
- -ing or to? Verb patterns in English
- Formal, professional and academic English
- Emphasis in English: inversion and cleft sentences