General English Level 5 V 3
UNIT 02 The world we live in TOPIC 04 Another point of view
LANGUAGE FOCUS 03 Relative clauses

Look at these sentences from the article.

Whenever the timber industry clear fells a forest that has stood for a thousand years, it is gone forever.
The large companies who control the industry use machines rather than people.
Melinda Watson, who is the leader of the National Green Party , writes about why we should save our forests.
It was a beautiful sunny day and I was walking through a magnificent old forest, which was full of all kinds of animals and birds.
Around me, trees, which were hundreds of years old , reached high into the sky. These trees protected thousands of other plants that were growing there.

We call clauses beginning with who, which and that relative clauses.

When the relative clause is about a person we use who.

When the relative clause is about a thing we use which or that.

Who, which and that are relative pronouns. Relative pronouns act as the subject or object of the verb in a relative clause.

Examples

It was a beautiful sunny day and I was walking through a magnificent old forest. The forest was full of all kinds of animals and birds.
It was a beautiful sunny day and I was walking through a magnificent old forest, which was full of all kinds of animals and birds.

1. Types of relative clauses

There are two types of relative clauses.

Defining relative clauses

A defining relative clause identifies exactly which person or thing we are talking about.
We never use a comma with a defining relative clause.

Examples

…a forest that has stood for a thousand years is gone forever.
The large companies who control the industry use machines rather than people.

Non-defining relative clauses

A non-defining relative clause just adds more information about the subject of a sentence. This information is not needed to identify the person or thing. We always use a comma with a non-defining relative clause.

Example

Melinda Watson, who is the leader of the National Green Party, writes about why we should save our forests.

Who introduces the extra information about Melinda Watson. The meaning of the sentence would not change if this information were left out. The sentence would still be complete.

2. Position of relative clauses

We always put a relative clause directly after the noun it defines or gives more information about.

Around me, trees, which were hundreds of years old, reached high into the sky. These trees protected thousands of other plants that were growing there.

'" Which were hundreds of years old" gives extra information about the trees. " That were growing there" defines the other plants.

When we insert the non-defining relative clause within the main clause, we put a comma at each end of the clause.

Examples

1 Read the examples.
2 Listen to the examples.
3 Practise saying each example. Use the Pause button.
People who care about the environment are sometimes called "greenies".
The article that Melinda Watson wrote was very interesting.
We must remember the many animals that live in the forest.
Melinda Watson, who writes a lot of articles , wrote an article about preserving forests.
The forests, which are important to life on earth, are disappearing rapidly.
Bluebirds, which live in the forests, are endangered.
The forests could be used for tourism, which is a very profitable industry.


Now go to 04 WRITING Relative clauses.