Relative clauses are non-essential parts of a sentence.

They may add meaning, but if they are removed,

the sentence will still function grammatically.
There are two broad types of relative clauses in English. It is important to distinguish between them
because it affects the choice of pronoun used to introduce the clause

DEFINING CLAUSES
A defining or identifying clause tells us which specific person or thing we are talking about in a larger group of people
or things. If a defining relative clause is removed, the meaning of the sentence changes significantly. A defining
relative clause is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas or parentheses.
•The woman who visited me in the hospital was very kind.
•The umbrella that I bought last week is already broken.
•The man who stole my backpack has been arrested.
•The weather that we had this summer was beautiful.
NON-DEFINING CLAUSES
A non-defining or non-essential clause gives us more information about the person or thing we are talking about. If
non-defining relative clause is removed from a sentence, we lose some detail, but the overall meaning of the sentence
remains the same. Non-defining relative clauses are always set off from the rest of the sentence with commas or
parentheses.
•The farmer, whose name was Fred, sold us 10 pounds of potatoes.
•Elephants, which are the largest land mammals, live in herds of 10 or more adults.
•The author, who graduated from the same university I did, gave a wonderful presentation.
•My mother, who is 86, lives in Paris.
 “That”
Is the Relative pronoun most used in spoken english, this can be
used with things and people. It is used to instead
of “which”, “who” o “whom” in noun clauses

This is the restaurant that received the excellent reviews in the

newspaper.(Este es el restaurante que recibió excelentes críticas en el
periódico.)
This is the book that won the Pulitzer prize last year.(Este
es el libro que ganó el Permio Pulizer el año pasado.)
The exam [that] I took this morning won’t be corrected and
returned until next week.(El examen que hice esta mañana no se
corregirá ni se devolverá hasta la semana que viene.)
 Which
“Which” are only used with things.

Examples:

The house which we lived in when we were children burnt down

last week

My new job, which I only started last week, is already

very stressful.
 Who

“who” is only used with people.

My sister, who just moved in with me, is looking for a job.(Mi

hermana, que se acaba de mudar conmigo, está buscando trabajo.)

The woman [who] I’m dating is a teacher.(La mujer con quien

estoy saliendo es profesora.)
I never met someone who didn’t like music.(Nunca he conocido a
alguien que no le guste la música.)
 Whom

“Whom” is used to make reference to an object indirect to the verb, but its not used in a
everyday english. We often use “who” instead of “whom”.

The woman with whom I was talking to was my cousin.(La mujer con quién
estaba hablando era mi prima.)

This is Peter, whom I met at the party last week.(Este es Peter, a quien conocí
en la fiesta la semana pasada.)
 Whose

The use of “whose” indicates a posesion, these is used for people

and things

That is the girl whose parents got divorced last year.(Esa es la chica cuyos
padres se divorciaron el año pasado.)

Paul, whose wife just had a baby, will not be at work for a few weeks.(Paul,
cuyo esposa acaba de tener un bebé, no irá a trabajar durante unas semanas.)
 When and where and why

These relative adverbs sometimes are used instead or a relative pronoun to make sentences easier.
These adverbs refere to a time, place and reason expresion.
Ejemplos:

Can you tell me when is the best time to call?(¿Puedes decirme cuando es la
mejor hora para llamar?)

The university where I teach is an excellent school.(La universidad donde

enseño es una escuela excelente.)