A relative clause plays a modifying role in a sentence. For example, the
sequence ‘who complain’ in the sentence ‘They don’t like customers who
complain’ is a relative clause and it qualifies the noun ‘customers’, since it
specifies which type of customers are not liked.
Relative clauses in English are often introduced by words like ‘who’,
‘whom’, ‘which’, ‘that’, ‘where’, ‘whose’:
I haven’t spoken to the lady who booked the holiday.
The meal that we had was delicious.
The house where we used to live has been demolished.
I don’t know the reason why they sold the house.
He is the person whose flat we have been staying in.
The clause introduced by these words is referred to as the subordinate
clause, and the clause that contains the element qualified by the relative
clause is called the main clause. The qualified element is known as the
antecedent. For example, the noun ‘house’ and the pronoun ‘one’ are the
antecedents in the following sentences:
They live in a house that is close to the beach.
I’ve got one that is broken.Differences between Spanish and English relative
clausesOmission of the relative pronounA relative pronoun in English is often omitted:
The man we saw at the beach = The man that we saw at the
is here. beach is here.25.1.125.1