Non-Defining Relative Clause

Learn how to make a non-defining relative clause English.

Special Lesson Activities for This Grammar Point

Non-defining Relative Clauses

Point 1: Non-defining relative clauses provide additional information about a noun in the sentence, but they are not essential to understanding the main meaning of the sentence.
  1. Mary, who is my friend's sister, is a doctor.
    1. Mary is a doctor. Mary is my friend's wife.
  2. City Park, which is really beautiful, has lots of running trails.
    1. City Park is really beautiful. It has lot of running trails.
  3. My sister, who just got married, is moving to London.
    1. My sister just got married. She is moving to London.
  4. John's car, which he just bought, was stolen from the parking lot.
    1. John just bought his car. It was stolen from the parking lot.
Point 2: Non-defining relative clauses are introduced by the relative pronoun who when referring to people.
  1. My best friend, who is a chef, never cooks for himself.
  2. My daughter, who I think you met last year, just got married.
  3. The meeting was led by Bob, who runs the IT department.
  4. Mary, who most of you know, will give a presentation about AI.
Point 3: Non-defining relative clauses are introduced by relative the pronoun which when referring to things. The relative pronoun that is not used in non-defining relative clause.
  1. My gym, which is near my office, is open 24 hours.
  2. My computer, which is very slow, is over 10 years old.
  3. I drink a lot of green tea, which is supposed to be very healthy.
  4. She has a new cat, which she found on the street!
Point 4: The non-defining clause will not have a subject before the verb if the subject is the same as the noun it motifies.
  1. The dog, which belongs to my neighbor, barks all night.
  2. Jane, who is my colleague, is organizing a charity event.
  3. My new watch, which runs on solary power, tells perfect time.
  4. The new action movie, which stars Tom Cruise, is now playing downtown.
Point 5: If the clause refers to an object, then object is omitted in the relative clause.
  1. Susan, who you met -- last year, is coming over for dinner.
    1. You met Susan last year.
  2. My new computer, which I bought -- online, is so fast!
    1. I bought my new computer online,
  3. My bike, which I never ride --, just sits in the garage.
    1. I never ride my bike.
  4. The new cafe, which I just tried --, has great coffee.
    1. I just tried the new cafe.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

About the Teacher

My name is Todd Beuckens and I am an ESL teacher in Thailand. I created this site to provide teachers and students free audio lessons and learning materials not usually found in commercial textbooks.

Contact me here.