Defining Relative Clauses
Task 1. Complete the sentences with which, that, who or where. Sometimes more than one answer is possible. Tick the sentences where you don’t need the relative pronoun.
1. I don’t know anyone ______ enjoys birdwatching. __
2. There’s usually a teacher in the library ______ we can talk to. __
3. I know a restaurant ______ they make great burgers. __
4. Is there a café in town ______ serves vegetarian food? __
5. Betty likes teachers ______ are nice and friendly. __
6. Does Leo borrow books ______ he reads for fun? __
Task 2. Combine the two sentences using relative clauses.
1. The waitress served us. She was very friendly.
_______________________________________________________________________
2. The bus goes into town. It stops at the school too.
_______________________________________________________________________
3. The woman lives next door. Is she a teacher?
_______________________________________________________________________
4. The hotel was beautiful. We stayed there last summer.
_______________________________________________________________________
5. I didn’t like the film. We saw it at the cinema yesterday.
_______________________________________________________________________
6. This week, I’ve visited the school. I studied there when I was a teenager.
_______________________________________________________________________
Task 3. Choose the correct answer. What is special about the relative clauses in (4) and (8)?
Real friends?
Do you think of all the people (1) ___________ you know online as your friends? It seems that a lot of the people (2) ___________ use social media sites, such as Facebook, have over 200 online friends, compared to around fifty ‘real’ friends, (3) ___________ they actually meet in real life. Facebook, (4) ___________ was started in 2004, now has around 2.9 billion users worldwide, and a lot of people see it as a place (5) ___________ they can meet new friends as well as keep in touch with old ones. Studies (6) ___________ have looked at how people behave on social media sites have found that people are sometimes more honest and open online than they are in real life. But psychologists say, it is our ten or twelve closest relationships (7) ___________ are the most important to us. So maybe it’s still better to and meet your friends in the local park or café, (8) ___________ you can talk face to face.
1. A. which B. who C. where
2. A. that B. where C. what
3. A. which B. that C. who
4. A. what B. which C. who
5. A. where B. that C. which
6. A. that B. who C. where
7. A. who B. where C. which
8. A. which B. where C. that
Task 4. Write five sentences about your school using relative clauses. Tick the sentences where you don’t need the relative pronoun.
ANSWER KEY
Task 1.
1 who/that 2 who/that ✓ 3 where
4 which/that 5 who/that 6 which/that ✓
Task 2.
1. The waitress who/that served us was very friendly.
2. The bus which/that goes into town stops at the school too.
3. Is the woman who/that lives next door a teacher?
4. The hotel where we stayed last summer was beautiful.
5. I didn’t like the film (which/that) we saw at the cinema yesterday.
6. This week, I’ve visited the school where I studied when I was a teenager.
Task 3
1. B 2. A 3. C 4. B
5. A 6. A 7. C 8. B
The relative clauses in (4) and (8) are non-defining relative clauses. They add extra information to the sentences and can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentences.
Task 4. Example answers
1. The school field where we play football is huge.
2. Mr Burns is the teacher (who/that) I like the most. ✓
3. The lady who works in the library is my aunt.
4. There’s a room where you can chill out.
5. Biology is one of the subjects (which/that) I am really interested in. ✓