Using Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are a type of clause that joins two thoughts or two sentences together.

A Defining Relative clause is one which defines what the writer or speaker means.

For example the two thoughts - a man lives next door to me and a man is from Australia - can be joined together like this: The man who lives next door to me is from Australia. This tells the listener or reader who we are talking about.

A Non-Defining Relative clause gives us extra information.

For example the two thoughts - Australia is a country and Australia is located in the Southern Hemisphere - can be joined together like this: Australia is a country, which is located in the Southern Hemisphere. This time the clause gives us extra information about Australia.

Note that when we are giving extra information we include a comma (,) before the relative pronoun. We can use who, that, which, where and whose to make our relative clause and sometimes we can leave them out.

For example: " Have you spent all the money that I gave you?" can be written or spoken as "Have you spent all the money I gave you?"

Watch and listen to the song below. Then read through the lyrics. The relative clauses are highlighted for you. Are they defining or non-defining? Can you insert a relative pronoun or take it away?