What are relative clauses?

We use relative clauses to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. By combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.

There are 2 types of Relatives Clauses:

o   DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE: A defining clause specifies which person or thing we mean. It cannot be separated from the person or thing it describes.

By 4.30, there was only one painting which hadn’t been sold.

o   NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE: A non-defining clause contains extra information. In writing it is separated by commas, and in speech, if used at all, is usually indicated by intonation.

By 4.30, which was almost closing time, nearly all the paintings had been sold.