Look at these two sentences:
- London has over 6 million inhabitants.
- London, which is the capital of Britain, has over 6 million inhabitants.
Which is the capital of Britain gives us more information about London, but we do not need this information to define London. We can understand the first sentence without this extra information. Which is the capital of Britain is a non-defining relative clause. It has commas (,) to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
For things or animals, we use which (but NOT that) in non-defining relative clauses:
- Fred sold his laptop, which he no longer needed, to his cousin. (NOT …, that he no longer needed, … )
- In the summer we stay in my uncle’s house, which is near the sea. (NOT …, that is near the sea.)
For people, we use who (but NOT that) in non-defining relative clauses. We use who when it is the subject of the relative clause:
| SUBJECT | ||
| Elvis Presley, | who | died in 1977, earned millions of dollars. |
| (= Presley died in 1977.) | ||
We use who (or sometimes whom) when it is the object of the relative clause:
| OBJECT | ||
| My boss, | who (OR whom) | I last saw before Christmas, is very ill. |
| (= I last saw my boss before Christmas.) | ||
We use whose to mean ‘his’, ‘her’, or ‘their’:
Marilyn Monroe, whose real name was Norma Jean, was born in Los Angeles. (= Her real name was Norma Jean.)
We can also use which (but NOT that) to refer to a whole fact:
- Ann did not want to marry Tom, which surprised everybody.
Here, which refers to the fact that Ann did not want to marry Tom.
PRACTICE
Now it is time to practise what you have learned.
- For each Practice Test, read the instructions carefully.
- Complete the exercise and press 'Check' to get your results.
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