Grade 10 Grammar Lesson 30 Relative clauses: Defining

What are relative clauses?
What are defining relative clauses?
Is it possible to omit the relative pronouns?
When do we use ‘who’, ‘which’ or ‘that’?

•  A relative clause gives us more information about a noun in a main clause.
•  Now, if we want to specify which couple or what kind of couple we mean, we need to use a clause to define couple. Such a clause is called a defining relative clause introduced by a realative pronoun such as who, which, that, etc.
•  When we use a defining relative clause, the relative pronoun may be the subject or the object of the main clause.
•  We can opt for a zero relative pronoun when defining an object.
•  We can also use whom instead of who as object.
• We use who with people and which with animals, places and things. We can use that with either.
•  We normally use that, not who/which, as subject after words such as something, anything, all, little, much, none, and superlatives.

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