How to Use a Relative Clause: 5 Examples of Relative Clauses

A relative clause, also known as an adjective clause or adjectival clause, is a type of subordinate clause that offers additional information or extra information in a sentence. They are used within a main or independent clause to modify a noun or noun phrase. A relative clause is always a dependent clause, meaning that it contains a subject and verb is not a complete sentence. Relative clauses are typically introduced in a sentence by a relative pronoun (such as “who,” “whom,” “which,” “whose,” or “that”) or a relative adverb (such as “when,” “where,” or “why”).

Restrictive relative clauses and nonrestrictive relative clauses are two main types of relative clauses that a person will use in English grammar. When using relative clauses, it’s important to remember that the relative clause defines or qualifies the noun clause before with either essential or nonessential information.

• Restrictive relative clause: A restrictive relative clause—also called a defining relative clause—provides necessary information to the meaning of a sentence. It is not set off by commas embedded within the main clause. For example, consider the following example sentence: “The man who lives in the city was late for work.” The relative clause “who lives in the city” qualifies “the man,” and gives us the necessary information to help determine who the sentence is talking about, which makes it a defining clause.
• Nonrestrictive relative clause: A nonrestrictive relative clause—also called a non-defining relative clause—provides information that is not necessary to understand the meaning of the rest of the sentence. Nonrestrictive relative clauses begin and end with commas (or sometimes parentheses) within a sentence. For example, consider the following sentence: “John, who lives in the city, takes the subway to work.” The relative clause, “who lives in the city,” qualifies and refers back to the noun John, the object of the relative clause. However, we don’t need that information in order to know that John lives in the city since he’s taking the subway, so it’s non-essential information and we use commas to section it off.

Relative clauses are always preceded by a relative pronoun or relative adverb, and they may or may not be embedded into the middle of a sentence with punctuation. Here are a few examples to illustrate how you can use a relative clause.

1. 1. “My friend, who just moved here, is coming to dinner with us.” In this sentence, the relative clause is “who just moved here,” because it begins with the pronoun “who” which refers to the sentence’s subject. This clause begins and ends with commas because it is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.
2. 2. “My cat that ran away a week ago finally returned home.” The relative clause in this sentence is “that ran away a week ago.” Commas do not set it off because the information contained in the clause is integral to the meaning of the sentence.
3. 3. “Any person whose identification is not up to date will not be able to board a flight.” The relative clause in this sentence is “whose identification is not up to date” which refers to “any person” in the possessive form. This is a restrictive relative clause because it is important to identify that only people who don’t have current identification will be restricted from air travel.
4. 4. “The town where I grew up is important to me.” The relative clause in this sentence is “where I grew up.” This restrictive clause is not contained within commas because the information “where I grew up” is essential to explain why it is important to “me.”
5. 5. “The fourth of July, when the US gained independence, is my favorite holiday.” The relative clause in this sentence ”when the US gained independence” is introduced by the relative adverb “when.” This clause is contained within commas because it is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

Using relative clauses in your sentence structure may already be second-nature to English speakers, but there are a few rules of thumb to follow when you’re not exactly sure how to structure it.

1. 1. Define what your clause adds to the sentence. Before you add a relative clause to your sentence, define whether or not the clause you are adding is restrictive or nonrestrictive. Restrictive clauses, which add essential information to the meaning of your sentence, do not need to be enclosed in commas. Nonrestrictive clauses, which add extra information that a sentence can function without, are contained within commas.
2. 2. Use the correct relative pronoun or relative adverb. Your relative clause should begin with a relative pronoun or adverb to elaborate on the noun that it references. “Who” replaces subject pronouns referring to people, and “whom” replaces object pronouns for people. “Whose” is used when you’re referring to a possessive state. “Which” is often used in nonrestrictive clauses referring to objects and animals, and “that” refers to people and things in restrictive clauses. Relative adverbs are used to elaborate more on a place (by using “where”), a time (using “when”), and the reason that something is happening (by using “why”).
3. 3. Eliminate a relative pronoun by using “-ing.” You can eliminate a relative pronoun in your sentence to make it more succinct by adding “-ing” to the verb within your relative clause. For example, it would be correct to say “The man standing by the bar has a cool shirt.” Saying “standing” allows you to eliminate the relative pronoun phrase “who is” which could precede that verb.

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