
Look at these examples to see how non-defining relative clauses are used.
Jack, who's retired now, spends a lot of time with his grandchildren.
We want to see the new Tom Carter film, which was released on Friday.
My sister, whose dog I'm looking after, is visiting a friend in Australia.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Relative clauses give us information about the person or thing mentioned.
Non-defining relative clauses give us extra information about someone or something. It isn't essential for understanding who or what we are talking about.
My grandfather, who's 87, goes swimming every day.
The house, which was built in 1883, has just been opened to the public.
The award was given to Sara, whose short story impressed the judges.
We always use a relative pronoun or adverb to start a non-defining relative clause: who, which, whose, when or where (but not that). We also use commas to separate the clause from the rest of the sentence.
who, which and whose
We can use who to talk about people, which to talk about things and whose to refer to the person or thing that something belongs to.
Yesterday I met my new boss, who was very nice.
The house, which is very big, is also very cold!
My next-door neighbour, whose children go to school with ours, has just bought a new car.
After the port there is a row of fishermen's houses, whose lights can be seen from across the bay.
Places and times
We can use which with a preposition to talk about places and times. In these cases it's more common to use where or when instead of which and the preposition.
City Park, which we used to go to, has been closed down.
City Park, where we used to go, has been closed down.
December, which Christmas is celebrated in, is a summer month for the southern hemisphere.
December, when Christmas is celebrated, is a summer month for the southern hemisphere.
However, when we use which without a preposition, we can't use where or when.
Centre Park, which we love, is always really busy on Saturdays.
February, which is my favourite month, lasts 29 days this year.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Dear The LearningEnglish Team,
I wonder whether it is grammatically true if I reduce the following non-defining relative clause?
"The Great Walll of China, which was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, is considered one of the greatest man-made wonders of the world." --> "The Great Wall of China, listed as a World Heritage Site ... wonders of the world."
Hope to get your help soon!
Many thanks!
Hello katt_79,
Yes, that is grammatically correct. When the relative pronoun (and sometimes other words) are omitted, this structure is called a reduced relative clause.
Good work!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you so much fỏ your help!
Dear sirs,
I have hit a wall when trying to find the reason why in some sentences we can't use where/when even though we are reffering to a place or time, like in the examples:
They went to a concert at the new arena, which was built last year.
My birthday, which was my 40th, turned out to be a wonderful day!
February, which is my favourite month, lasts 29 days this year.
The new school, which has a pool, opens next week.
Yesterday, which was a holiday, we visited my sister-in-law.
and
Centre Park, which we love, is always really busy on Saturdays.
I can see "there/then" can't be used in these cases, but I can't explain it. Could you help me please?
Hi Miss Paola,
It's because we use where and when to introduce something that happens in/at that place or time. We don't use them if we just want to add description about those places/times - in that case, we just use which.
These sentences just add extra description about the place or time:
These sentences introduce something that happens in that place or time:
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
May I ask why "fisherman's" is written like that in the example given in the text?
Hello mohsen11,
You're right -- that should be 'fishermen's', not 'fisherman's'. I've fixed the error.
Thanks very much for pointing this out to us and sorry for any confusion!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello haovivu128,
We can generally help you with a specific question about a specific part of one sentence, but I'm afraid we're not able to offer the service of correcting our users' writing.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Hosseinpour,
A relative pronoun is always required when its relative clause gives extra information. That is why 'which', which refers to 'the warm Gulf stream', is required here.
I'm afraid that 'where' doesn't work here because the antecedent 'the warm Gulf stream' is a natural force, not a place. If you changed the sentence a bit so that the relative clause referred to the 'the path of the warm Gulf stream' (which is a place), then 'where' could work: 'The Orkney Islands are situated in the path of the warm Gulf stream, where nutrients are abundant and the winter is milder.'
Hope that helps you make sense of it.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello GiulianaAndy,
In general, yes. This is explained on our defining relative clauses page, in the last section.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hell BobMux,
We use defining relative clauses when we want to indicate which thing we are talking about.
In your example there is only one global warming conference, so there is no need to indicate which one the speaker means. However, imagine a situation in which there are two global warming conferences, one in The Hague and one is another city.
In this case you would need to indicate which of the two conferences you are talking about, so a defining relative clause would be appropriate:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Yacine babacine,
Yes, that's correct. The relative clause describes 'Jack' in this sentence. The relative clause almost always directly follows the word or phrase which it describes.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Arjun Yadav,
I don't understand that, either. Does my answer to your comment below help you understand this?
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Arjun Yadav,
Notice that in the example sentences in the explanation above, the relative clause begins with 'which' when a preposition of place (like 'to' or 'in') is used and it begins with 'where' when there is no preposition:
The first of your two sentences is not correct -- it has 'where' and the preposition 'at'. You could correct it by saying 'where we've stayed several times' or 'at which we've stayed several times'.
The second of your two sentences is correct, but, as you say, you can't use 'which' in it. This is because there is no preposition that would work in the prepositional clause. You could change it to put a preposition there, e.g. 'I study in my local park, which I go to to get fresh air'.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Chekytan,
We're happy to help you with a specific question, but if you are seeking explanations of relative clauses, please see the explanations above, on this page, and on this page.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello vsalmeron,
I think you've misunderstood the explanation here.
We can use where or when to replace which when which is used with certain prepositions. However, when which is used without a preposition it cannot be replaced with where or when.
In your example where is used. You could use which with a preposition instead:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Karan Narang,
'helped' is a simple past verb that refers to a past finished action here. The person who said this could, for example, be referring to yesterday or last week.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello hanluna,
The verb visit takes a direct object.
Which is a relative pronoun and can be an object.
Where is a relative adverb and cannot be an object.
If you use a different verb, then it is possible to use where. For example:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Iago Liasch,
I don't see anything wrong with that sentence grammatically. It may be more common to say when instead of whose, but whose is not wrong here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello AlessD,
'Which' in this sentence refers to 'vulnerable populations'.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ambreen Safdar,
Although I can imagine a context in which it might be non-defining, I think it is most likely to be defining. The purpose of the clause is to identify which people you are talking about (this group of people not the others), rather than simply to provide extra information about a previously identified group.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Kaisoo93,
The second sentence is almost correct. You need to say allows rather than allow as it is present simple third person.
The first sentence is not correct. You need to add the word time:
However, this is a rather formal was to express it. The version with when is far more natural.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello MaryPoury,
When you have a sentence with the relative pronoun which and a preposition (e.g. in which, on which, etc) it is often possible to use the relative adverbs when or where instead. If you use when or where then you do not need a preposition.
In your sentences you use the relative adverbs when and where and so no preposition is needed. If you use the relative pronoun which instead then you need to add a preposition:
Winter, when temperatures are lower, sees higher rainfall. [relative adverb; no preposition needed]
When we use which with no preposition, we cannot replace it with when or where:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Ali Reza
We plan to create an Advanced grammar at some point, but I'm afraid it's going to be quite some time before we have it ready. In the meantime, the Grammar Reference has advanced points on many pages.
There are also other free resources on the internet, e.g. the Cambridge Dictionary, where you can find quite a lot of material.
Since the TOEFL isn't used by British institutions, we do not plan to create any resources for it.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team