What is a non-defining relative clause?

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Clauses are different short phrases that add information in a sentence, but cannot stand alone as a sentence. For one to be non defining relative, it needs to add information that does not narrow down the group that it describes. Instead, it gives more information about the group. For example:

  • My parents, who are Chinese immigrants to the US, really like to eat sandwiches.
  • Elephants, which can be found in zoos all over the world, are some of the most beloved animals wherever they are.

 

For both of these sentences, the bolded non defining clause gives more information about the subject of the sentence. For the first example, the clause tells us that this speaker’s parents are Chinese immigrants to the US.

For the second sentence, it tells us that elephants are in zoos all over the world. However, both of these characteristics could apply to any parents or elephants. Therefore, they are non defining. Contrast the non defining relative clauses above with the defining clauses below:

  • I was looking for the ice cream brand that I first tried in Thailand
  • Bobby showed me a trick that is useful if you forget to bring your house keys.

For both of these defining relative clauses, the bolded clauses specify which ice cream brand and which trick the speaker is talking about. In the first sentence, it is not talking about any ice cream – it is one specific one that the speaker tried in Thailand. Because it narrows down the subject that it describes, it is defining.

For non defining relative clauses, you should start with a relative pronoun. These include who, which, whom, where, and whose. Depending on the noun that you are describing, you need to pick which relatively pronoun suits the sentence the best. Note also that these non defining relative clauses are typically used more in writing than speaking, because they tend to be more formal and need commas (or periods if they occur at the end of a sentence) on both sides.

Person Thing Place
Subject who which
Object who/whom which where
Possessive whose

 

Conditionals in English: First, Second, Third, Zero and Mixed
Clause definition
Restrictive And Nonrestrictive Clauses 

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