Relative clauses

Cheat sheetsGrammar · Quick reference

Add identifying or extra information with who, which, that, whose and where.

A relative clause adds information about a noun without starting a separate sentence.

Word	Refers to	Example
who	People	The woman who called is my aunt.
which	Things or animals	The book which I borrowed is excellent.
that	People or things in defining clauses	The film that we saw was funny.
whose	Possession	The writer whose book won is here.
where	Places	That is the café where we met.
when	Times	I remember the day when we arrived.

Defining clauses identify which person or thing you mean. Non-defining clauses only add extra information.

Type	Punctuation and word choice	Example
Defining	No commas; that is possible for people or things	The students who arrived early got seats.
Non-defining	Commas; do not use that	My sister, who lives in Bristol, is visiting.
Meaning changes	Without commas, identify one among several	My brother who lives in Bristol is visiting.

The last sentence suggests that the speaker has more than one brother; the clause identifies which brother.

In a defining clause, the pronoun may be left out when it is the object, but not when it is the subject.

Role	With pronoun	Without pronoun
Object: omission possible	The film that we saw was great.	The film we saw was great.
Subject: omission not possible	The woman who called me is here.	Not: The woman called me is here.
Non-defining: keep the pronoun	My car, which I bought last year, is blue.	Not: My car, I bought last year, is blue.

In everyday English, a preposition often comes at the end of the relative clause.