Defining relative clause

Defining and Non-defining Relative Clauses

• Defining Relative Clauses:

  • Provide essential information about the noun they modify.

  • They cannot stand alone and are crucial to the sentence's meaning.

  • Often introduced by relative pronouns such as who, whom, whose, which, and that.

  • Example: "The book that I borrowed was fascinating." (The clause "that I borrowed" specifies which book.)

• Non-defining Relative Clauses:

  • Add extra information about the noun but do not change the overall meaning of the sentence.

  • They can be removed without altering the sentence's core meaning.

  • Introduced by relative pronouns such as who, which, and whose, but not that.

  • Always set off by commas.

  • Example: "My brother, who lives in London, is visiting this weekend." (The clause "who lives in London" gives additional information about my brother.)

Key Differences:

• Defining clauses are essential, non-defining clauses are supplementary.

• Comma usage: non-defining clauses use commas, while defining clauses do not.