Defining and non-defining relative clauses!
Do you know what they are?
No I don't!
And do you know what the differences are between them?
No, Toby!
I don't know that either!
Well don't worry because I I'm going to tell you all about them!
Toby!
You're the best!
And that's a fantastic thing!
My name is Toby, this is SMASH English and here is everything you need to know about
defining and non-defining relative clauses for the B2 First Cambridge exam.
First and foremost what is a clause?
A clause?
Yes, Toby!
He gives presents to us at Christmas!
Oh my god, Bruce...
you're so dumb.
That is Santa Claus!
Not a relative clause!
Oh my god!
Oh yeah.
A clause is any group of words that contains a subject and a verb.
That's it.
A clause can be a sentence or a clause can be part of a sentence.
What is a relative clause?
Well that's a clause that starts with a relative pronoun.
Oh... of course!
It starts with a relative pronoun... obviously....
What's a relative pronoun?
Oh my god, Duke.
You are so ignorant!
So you tell us then, Bruce, if you're so smart, what is it?
What is a relative pronoun?
Excuse me, Monica!
Relative pronouns are the little people that help the Claus make the presents at Christmas.
Oh my God, are you serious?
The relative pronouns that you need to know for the B2 First Cambridge exam are WHEN for
times.
WHO and WHOM for people.
WHOM is the formal version of WHO so if you're writing a formal letter then use WHOM instead
of WHO in your exam for example.
WHERE or IN WHICH for places.
WHOSE for possessions.
WHICH for objects and WHY for reasons.
So we have two types of relative clauses we have defining relative clauses and we have
non-defining relative clauses and what are the differences between them?
Well here are two sentences but there is a tiny, tiny, tiny difference between them and
can you spot it?
Sentence one: my sister, who eats insects, lives next door to an ant farm.
And sentence 2: My sister who eats insects lives next door to an ant farm.
So what's the difference between these two sentences?
Yeah, it's the comma.
The sentence with the comma is the non-defining relative clause.
This is because the clause beginning with the relative pronoun is not necessary to understand
the sentence.
Here the detail that my sister eats insects is irrelevant because I only have one sister
and so you know who I am talking about.
The sentence without the comma is a defining relative clause and that means the clause
beginning with the relative pronoun is necessary in order to understand the sense of the sentence.
Here I am talking about one of my sisters but I have more than one sister and you need
to know that she eats insects in order to understand which one I am talking about.
So that's the difference.
A defining relative clause has no comma and the information contained in the relative
clause is essential in order for you to understand the sense of the sentence.
On the other hand a non-defining relative clause has a comma and the information contained
in the relative clause is not necessary to understand the sense of the sentence.
We are just adding some extra information because maybe the listener is interested but
maybe they're not and maybe we're adding irrelevant and unnecessary information just to prolong
the sentence because we want to be creative.
I don't know!
You choose your own reasons for using non-defining relative clauses but just remember that the
information you are providing is not essential for the meaning.
Yes?
Yes!
Yeah maybe I made that more complicated than it needed to be.
A defining relative clause has no comma and the information you are providing is essential
to understand the sense of the sentence.
A non-defining relative clause has a comma and the information you are providing after
the relative pronoun is not essential for understanding the sense of the sentence.
Yes?
Okay.
I think, I think we've done that.
So let's look at some examples together.
Toby is the teacher who changed my life.
This is a defining relative clause.
I have had many teachers but only Toby changed my life and so this is necessary information
to understand the sense of the sentence.
The relative pronoun is WHO because Toby is a person yes?
Yes.
I am.
I'm a person.
A person that you really like... probably...
So please hit that like button!
Thanks.
We went to the SMASH English CEO's office, which was very dirty.
This is a non-defining relative clause.
We do not need to know how clean the SMASH English CEO's office was to understand where
the speaker went.
The relative pronoun is WHICH because here the CEO's office is an object and it is very
very dirty.
Yeah, uh I can do an example.
If you want okay, go on then...
Monica, whose beard is very beautiful, is a special girl.
This is a non-defining relative clause.
Again the information about Monica's beard is unnecessary and so we have commas.
Yeah and I don't even see why you would mention it, Bruce.
Yeah?
Because I don't even have a beard it's my skin.
Okay!?
Bruce used the relative pronoun WHOSE because Monica's beard is Monica's possession obviously.
Yeah well I'm like really spiritual and stuff and I don't think that people should be defined
by what they own.
Yeah, exactly Monica.
And that's why I chose a non-defining relative clause because your beard, Monica is not important.
No!
You're a very special girl.
Well yeah like that's true at least.
So now let's look at some more grammatical differences between defining and non-defining
relative clauses because unfortunately it does get a little bit more complicated than
that.
We can use THAT in defining relative clauses instead of WHO and WHOM for people and WHICH
for objects but we cannot do this in non-defining relative clauses.
Remember that.
This is very very important.
We can use THAT to replace WHO, WHOM and WHICH in defining relative clauses but we cannot
do that in non-defining relative clauses so just remember that non-defining relative clauses
don't use THAT.
Remember that.
Not to use that THAT.
So for example here we have two defining relative clauses.
Notice there are no commas and the information contained within the relative clause is essential
in order to understand the sense of the sentence.
If we want we can replace WHO with THAT and what does it change?
It changes nothing.
Or we can replace WHICH with THAT and what does it change?
It changes nothing.
This is a really important thing to remember especially for part two of the B2 First Use
of English paper: the Open Cloze part.
And if you want to learn more about doing that part then of course I have a video all
about it and you can watch it right here.
But anyway maybe there will be a space in the middle of a relative clause and you will
need to choose the correct relative pronoun.
And if it is a defining relative clause then perhaps you could choose WHO, WHOM or THAT.
However if it is a non-defining relative clause then you could only choose WHO or WHOM and
not THAT because that would be wrong.
To summarize, just remember that we can use THAT, WHO and WHOM for people in defining
relative clauses but we can only use WHO and WHOM in non-defining relative clauses.
Just remember that.
We can use THAT and WHICH for objects in defining relative clauses but we can only use WHICH
in non-defining relative clauses.
Yeah?
Yes!
Another thing you need to remember about defining relative clauses is that we can use the relative
pronoun WHY to talk about the reason for something and this is really easy to remember because
we always need to put "the reason" before the relative clause.
Yeah let's look at an example.
The reason why I started SMASH English was to help you and that's because I love you
so so much.
Oh I love you too, Toby.
But do you know who I love more than you?
I love ANDSKA and Fabio Zenelli much more than I love you and that's because they sent
me money.
Oh I really really love money!
Yes ANDSKA and Fabio donated to the channel.
Wow what great guys they are!
And I would love it if you could become a great guy or great gal too by giving me some
of your hard-earned money because these videos are free and they take me a lot of time to
do so seriously, if you feel like I've helped you then please do consider donating.
The links as always will be in the comments and the description.
Thank you.
Bye!
And lastly sometimes in a relative clause we can not include the relative pronoun.
Really?
Wow!
Yes!
Sometimes we don't even need to write the relative pronoun but only when the relative
pronoun is the object of the sentence.
If the relative pronoun is the subject then yes, yes, yes we must include it.
But if it is the object no, no, no we don't even need it.
The man that ate my artichoke is over there.
Here the man is the subject and so we cannot omit THAT.
This is a defining relative clause and so we can use THAT instead of WHO also.
The carrot which I ate was from the bin.
Here the carrot is the object and "I" is the subject.
So here we can eliminate the relative pronoun WHICH.
This gives us "the carrot I ate was from the bin" and yeah that's it.
So to summarize, these are the points you need to remember about defining and non-defining
relative clauses for the B2 First Cambridge exam.
Number one: a non-defining relative clause contains a comma and information that is not
necessary to understand the sense of the sentence.
Number two: a defining relative clause does not contain a comma and it contains information
that is essential in order to understand the sense of the sentence.
Number three: We can use THAT instead of WHO, WHOM or WHICH in defining relative clauses
but we cannot do this in non-defining relative clauses.
Number four: We can use WHY with "the reason" in defining relative clauses but we cannot
do this in non-defining relative clauses.
And number five: We can omit, exclude, chuck away, and say goodbye to the relative pronoun
when the relative pronoun is the object of the sentence.
Yes?
Yes!
That was very, very, very exciting and because that was very, very exciting I now need to
lie in bed all on my own and cry until I make the next video.
And now you know everything you need to know about defining and non-defining relative clauses
for the B2 First Cambridge exam.
So you can go to bed very very happy, at least that is one of us!
If you liked the video don't forget to SMASH that like button, subscribe if you haven't
already, leave a comment down below.
My name is Toby and this was SMASH english.