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Activities: “What are relative clauses in English?”

By: Erin Kuester
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our English Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Activity 1: Combining sentences

Let’s do some practice combining main clauses and relative clauses together with a relative pronoun! For each set of clauses below (one main and one relative), combine them together using one of the following relative pronouns:

  • That

  • Which

  • Who

  • Whose

Remember that in some cases there might be more than one correct relative pronoun!

  • Main clause: The dog ate the steaks.

    Relative clause: I had put the steaks on the table

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: My best friend is visiting this weekend.

    Relative clause: I met my best friend at summer camp.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: We have a new coworker.

    Relative clause: I can’t remember the coworker’s name.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: I bought a new painting.

    Relative clause: I want to hang the painting in the hallway.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: My dog loves eating carrots.

    Relative clause: My dog’s name is Pepper.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: Students can’t have a car on campus.

    Relative clause: Students live in the dorm.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: Maria made pizza for dinner.

    Relative clause: Her children love pizza.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: Linda brought us some tomatoes from her garden.

    Relative clause: Linda lives down the street.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: Did you meet the neighbor?

    Relative clause: The neighbor moved in yesterday.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: Carl was accepted to medical school.

    Relative clause: Carl’s dream is to be a doctor.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: The economics class has fifty students in it.

    Relative clause: The economics class starts at 9:00am.

    Combined sentence:

  • Main clause: That house was just bought by a young family.

    Relative clause: That house was built in 1899.

    Combined sentence:

Activity 2: Write your own!

Now we’ll practice writing some of our own relative clauses! Remember that relative clauses are usually used to give specific information about a noun, usually to define which noun is being talked about.

Each photo below has a group of people, animals, or things. Try to write 3 sentences for each photo, and use a relative clause in each one. There is an example sentence for each photo.

Remember to be creative, and there are many different sentences you can create!

  • Example: The man who is smiling just laughed at the girl’s joke.

    A photo of five young adults walking side-by-side down a sidewalk beside a brick building. From left to right, a man with a buzz cut in jeans, white sneakers, a soft-wash red t-shirt, and a brown coat is talking to the next man in line. He is in dark-wash jeans, white sneakers, a gray t-shirt, and a denim jacket. Next to him is a woman with long dark hair, who is throwing her head back and laughing at something the woman next to her said. She is wearing jeans, white sneakers, and a dark-colored sweater. The next woman in the line also has long dark hair, and is laughing. She is wearing a yellow sweater, dark-wash jeans, and gray shoes. Finally, at the right side of the line, a man with short curly dark hair and a goatee is smiling as well. He is wearing a dark jacket and a dark plaid shirt over a whit t-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers and he is carrying a water bottle.

    Your sentences:

  • Example: The dogs, which all belong to different owners, enjoy walking in the park.

    A line of dogs is sitting in front of a hot pink wall. They are all different breeds, but all are wearing leashes. From left to right: a brown fluffy dog (probably a poodle mix); a gray miniature poodle; a mid-sized mixed-breed black dog (probably a pit-bull mix) with very short hair, a short-legged brown dog with a white spot on its chest and a white nose, a gray poodle with a long poodle cut, an older brindle dog with pointy ears, a wire-haired black and tan dachshund; a small gray dog (perhaps a poodle mix or a shi-tzu), and a husky mix

    Your sentences:

  • Example: Everyone that is waiting for the train will be late to work today.

    A line of people waiting for a subway train. They are mostly wearing coats and almost all of them are looking down at their phones.

    Your sentences:

  • Example: Everyone who sat at the table watched the monitor.

    A photo of a group of people gathered around a white conference table. They are looking towards the far end of the table where there is a computer monitor and, on the wall behind it, several post-it notes in different colors. The people at the table, from right-to-left: A woman in a plaid yellow jacket and black pants with brown hair in a messy bun. On the table, she has a Macbook with a lemon yellow skin, a glass of water, and a black smartphone. Next, a man with a buzz cut, dark hair, and glasses wearing a white collared shirt over a black t-shirt. He has a closed silver Macbook and a smartphone on the table and is holding his chin in his hand. Next, a woman with long black hair and red lipstick is leaning forward. She's wearing a denim shirt and typing on a silver Macbook with several stickers on it. On the left side of the table, we can't se much, besides that a woman with long hair in dark clothes is sitting closer to us, blocking our view of a man in a light-colored neutral sweater. The woman is typing on an open laptop and has a notebook open beside her.

    Your sentences:

  • Example: Paco, who is a tiny dog, loves Bella even though she is much larger.

    Two dogs sit on a royal blue couch in a very colorful and eclectically-decorated home. The dog on the left is a brindle and white boxer mix and the dog on the right is a fawn and white chihuahua. They are looking at each other as if they might be playing. On the couch are several colorful cushions. One, which sits at the right of the frame reads "Land of Make Believe" in multi-colored embroidered letters. Another (on the left) is stribed blue and white. On the royal blue ottoman, in front of the couch, are several items. A book with wonder woman on the cover, a yellow plastic dish, and a brass tray. The wall behind the couch is decorated with a gallery wall of brightly colored art. There are also several house plants including a cactus and a ZZ plant.

    Your sentences:

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