Relative Clauses | Defining a Relative Clause | Omission of Who/Which/That | Grammar for Class 8

In this lesson, you will learn all about Relative Clauses.
• A relative clause tells us which person or thing, or what kind of person or thing, the speaker means. It is normally introduced by relative pronouns like who, which, that, whose, whom and relative adverbs like when and where. An adjective clause is also called a relative clause.
• We use who in a relative clause when we are talking about people, not things. Sometimes, we can use that instead of who, but it is less usual.
Examples: The girls who serve in the shop are the owners daughters.
The girl that stood first in the class is my cousin.
• We use that and which when we refer to things, not people.
Examples: The stairs which/that lead to the cellar are rather slippery.
I work for a company which/that produces ceramic basins.
• That can normally be used in place of both who and which. However, in specific cases, we have to use that. We use that after adjectives in the superlative degree; after the words all, any, anything, none, nothing; and when we to refer to both a person and a thing.
Examples: This is the most popular film that people go to watch in the genre of comedy.
This is all that I possess.
Both the woman and the daughter that appeared in the picture wore vintage hats.
• We must use the relative pronoun who/which/that if it is the subject of the relative clause.
Examples: The car which is parked in front of our house has a flat tyre.
The fruit vendor who sold me these apples was very skinny and wrinkled.
• We can leave out the relative pronoun who/which/that when it is the object of the relative clause.
Examples: The man (who/whom) I saw told me to come back today.
The smartphone (that/which) I wanted to buy was beyond my means.
• We often leave out the relative pronoun when it is the object of a preposition.
Examples: I can’t find the newspaper (which/that) I’m looking for.
The room (which/that) I slept in last night was tastefully decorated.
• In relative clauses, we use whose in place of his/her/their.
Examples: I congratulated the woman whose daughter had won the prize.
The film is about a spy whose wife is also a spy.
• We use whose mainly with people. But sometimes it goes with other nouns.
Examples: They arranged an emergency meeting whose purpose I could not understand.
His house, whose windows are all broken, is a depressing sight.
• In formal English, whom is sometimes used, in place of his/her/them, when the object of the relative clause is a person. We can use whom with a preposition also: to whom, with whom.
Examples: The man whom we greeted turned out to be a stranger.
The man to whom I talked has a quirky sense of humour.
• We use where when we refer to a place, and we use it in place of there.
Examples: I visited the house where Virginia Woolf lived with her husband.
I saw a garden where a young lady, dressed in white, gathered lilies.
Grammar Connect 8 @Blueprint Digital ​