Relative ClausesB1

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Relative clauses add information about a noun with who for people, which for things, that, whose and where. Who, which and that replace the noun and the clause has no second pronoun: The woman who lives here is my aunt.

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CheatsheetB1

Point	Rule	Example
Form	noun + who / which / that + clause; right after the noun	The woman who lives next door is a nurse.
who, which	who for people, which for things	The woman who lives next door is a nurse. / The book which I bought was cheap.
that	people or things, in defining clauses only	The film that we saw was long.
whose	possession; a noun follows	The man whose car was stolen called the police.
where	places	The café where we met has closed.
Subject pronoun	stays: a verb follows	The girl who speaks French is my cousin.
Object pronoun	can be left out in a defining clause only	The film I saw was long.
Defining	says which one; no commas	The man who called is my uncle.
Non-defining	extra information in commas; who / which / whose / where	Paris, which I visited in May, is beautiful.
Trap	where already includes the preposition	The house where I live is old.

Form: relative pronounsB1

Word	Refers to	Example
who	people	The woman who lives next door is a nurse.
which	things	The book which I bought was cheap.
that	people or things (defining clauses)	The film that we saw was long.
whose	possession	The man whose car was stolen called the police.
where	places	The café where we met has closed.

A relative clause comes straight after the noun it describes.
whose is followed by a noun: whose car, whose idea.
where includes the preposition: the house where I live.
whom is the formal object form: The man whom I met. Everyday English uses who or no pronoun.

Form: defining clausesB1

A defining clause says which person or thing. It has no commas. The man who called is my uncle.

The pronoun is	With pronoun	Without pronoun
subject (verb follows)	The girl who speaks French is my cousin.	—
object (subject follows)	The film that I saw was long.	The film I saw was long.
object of a preposition	The man who I spoke to was kind.	The man I spoke to was kind.

A subject pronoun stays: who / which / that is followed by a verb.
An object pronoun can be left out: who / which / that is followed by a subject.
In everyday English the preposition goes to the end of the clause.

Form: non-defining clausesB1

A non-defining clause adds extra information. Commas separate it from the rest. My uncle, who lives in Leeds, is a doctor.

Feature	Defining	Non-defining
Information	says which one	extra, can be removed
Commas	none	yes, and a pause in speech
Pronouns	who / which / that	who / which / whose / where
Leave out the object pronoun	possible	never

Example
Paris, which I visited in May, is beautiful.
Tom, whose brother is a chef, cooks well.

which can refer to a whole clause: He passed the exam, which surprised everyone.

Typical errorsB1

✗	✓	Rule
The man which lives next door is a doctor.	The man who lives next door is a doctor.	people → who or that
The house where I live in is old.	The house where I live is old. / The house I live in is old.	where includes the preposition
My uncle, that lives in Leeds, is a doctor.	My uncle, who lives in Leeds, is a doctor.	non-defining clauses use who or which
The film that I saw it was long.	The film that I saw was long.	the pronoun stands for the object
I know a man lives in Paris.	I know a man who lives in Paris.	a subject pronoun stays
Paris, which I visited it in May, is beautiful.	Paris, which I visited in May, is beautiful.	which stands for the object
Paris which I visited in May is beautiful.	Paris, which I visited in May, is beautiful.	non-defining clauses need commas