Relative pronouns and relative clauses

Test
Choose the correct relative pronoun or relative adverb.
1. The woman is sitting at the desk is Mr Winter's secretary.
2. I cannot remember the reason he wanted us to leave.
3. Jane, mother is a physician, is very good at biology.
4. She didn’t see the snake was lying on the ground.
5. Do you know the shop Andrew picked me up?
Combine the sentences with relative clauses. (Decide whether to use commas or not.)
1. A monk is a man. The man has devoted his life to God.
A monk
2. I have one black cat. His name is Blacky.
I have
3. A herbivore is an animal. The animal feeds upon vegetation.
A herbivore
4. Carol plays the piano brilliantly. She is only 9 years old.
Carol
5. Sydney is the largest Australian city. It is not the capital of Australia.
Sydney
Combine the sentences with contact clauses.
1. We ordered a book. It was very expensive.

2. You are sitting on a bench. The paint on the bench is still wet.

3. The photographer could not develop the pictures. I had taken them in Australia.

4. One of the bins smells awful. You haven’t emptied the bin for 3 weeks.

5. They are singing a song. I don’t know the song.

Combine the sentences with relative clauses or contact clauses. Use contact clauses where possible. (Decide whether to use commas or not.)
1. The city seems to be abandoned. It is usually crowded with people.

2. You made an offer. We cannot accept it.
We
3. A midwife is a woman. She assists other women in childbirth.
A woman
4. Three youngsters were arrested by the police. They had committed criminal offences.
The police
5. The World Wide Web has become an essential part of our lives. It was invented by Tim Berners-Lee.
Tim Berners-Lee
Exercise on Relative Clauses (Contact clauses)
Forming relative clauses
Combine the sentences using a relative clause. Use relatvie pronouns only where necessary. Note that you have to use commas in some of the sentences.
A holiday in Scotland
1. We spent our holiday in Scotland last year. Scotland is in the north of Great Britain.
Last year we
2. People live in Scotland. They are called Scots.
The people
3. We first went to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland.
We first
4. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh. He wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Arthur Conan Doyle
5. Then we visited a lake. It is in the Highlands.
The lake
6. Loch Ness is 37 km long. People know it for its friendly monster.
Loch Ness
7. There we met an old man. He told us that he had seen Nessie.
An old man
8. We then travelled to a mountain. The mountain is near the town of Fort William.
We then
9. The mountain is the highest mountain in Great Britain. It is called Ben Nevis.
The mountain
10. I sent you a postcard. It was written on the summit of Ben Nevis.
The postcard

Fill the blanks with relative pronouns if necessary.
1. Can you remember the girl_____________showed you the way?
2. The dog____________we heard last night is a bulldog.
3. The friends____________you are living with phoned you yesterday.
4. The money_____________we spend on magazines should be spent on books.
5. The doctor_____________visited your mother is very famous.
6. Where is the library____________you borrowed those books from?
7. People_____________live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
8. The street_____________leads to the school is being repaired.
9. Here is the man___________dog bit you.
10.I know somebody____________lives in the town where you were born.
11.The key____________you were looking for was behind the cupboard.
12.The town_____________we've just passed through was completely destroyed during the war.
13.That's the poet____________poems are so successful.
14.The plane____________has just landed comes from Paris.
15.I had my passport in the case___________I lost.
16.The chair____________you are sitting on belonged to my grandmother.
17.The oranges____________I bought yesterday aren't very good.
18.That's the toy____________my son enjoys playing with.

Combine each of these pairs of sentences so that the second becomes a non-defining relative clause.
1. Our television set is always making funny noises. It cost us a lot of money.

2. Mr. Green is going to retire. His students like him very much.

3. A history of the town will be published soon. People know nothing about it.

4. Picasso is known all over the world now. His paintings were not understood at first.

5. The final exams happened to be very easy. I feared them too much.

6. I'm going to visit Brazil. I don't know anything at all about it.

7. The storm damaged the lorry. Its driver is a friend of mine.

8. We couldn't climb that mountain. Its summit is always covered with snow.

9. Juan speaks English very well. His mother is Swedish.

10. Their story sounds incredible. It is true.

11. My uncle Tom will be arriving tomorrow. You've heard so much about him.

12. Sardines are very nourishing. They are cheap.

13. I met Arthur Jones. His book on sports sells very well.

14. John did most of the work. He is very clever.

15. Valery came home yesterday. It was a pleasant surprise.

Fill the blanks using THAT or WHAT if necessary.

1. All____________glitters is not gold.
2. _____________I was interested in were Russian stamps.
3. She is the best friend_________________I have.
4. That's all_______________ I need to know.
5. There isn't much________________ can be done.
6. I didn't understand_________________you said.
7. There isn't anywhere_______pleases her.
8. Everything________________happened after the match was shameful.
9. Isn't it the song__________________won a prize last year?
10.It was a parrot___________________spoke to us.

Defining Relative Pronouns Exercise at Auto-English

People: that / who
owners : whose
things: that / which
places: where

Combine the sentences using defining relative pronouns. When the relative pronoun is an object, it can be omitted.

1 That's the girl. She spoke to me yesterday.

_____________________________________________________________ .
2 What's the name of the book? You want me to read it.
_____________________________________________________________ .
3 We stayed in a hotel. The hotel was very expensive.
_____________________________________________________________ .
4 I rent a house. It is very small.
_____________________________________________________________ .
5 The car was stolen. It was a BMW.
_____________________________________________________________ .
6 The man smoked forty cigarettes a day. He died of a heart attack.
_____________________________________________________________ .
7 That's the building. I work there.
_____________________________________________________________ .
8 That's the boy. His mother works in the post office.
_____________________________________________________________ .
9 The businessman was very rich. I saw him last night.
_____________________________________________________________ .
10 That's the dog. Its owner is French.


Non-defining Relative Pronouns Exercise at Auto-English

Three things about Non-defining Relative Clauses.
1. The relative clause is closed off by commas and is quite similar to information in brackets.
2. Non-defining relative clauses are NOT used in spoken English. It would sound unnatural.
3. The relative pronoun can never be omitted.

Combine the sentences using non-defining relative pronouns.
1 Valencia is a great place. Valencia is due east of Madrid.
___________________________________________________________________
2 Jimbo is living in Thailand now. Jimbo got divorced last year.
___________________________________________________________________
3 Clare is a good teacher. I don't like Clare very much.
___________________________________________________________________
4 The Flaca pub rocks. I met my girlfriend in The Flaca. (use WHERE)
___________________________________________________________________
5 My greasy neighbour stinks of after-shave. My greasy neighbour is a bus driver.
___________________________________________________________________
6 Almeria is very dry. The beaches of Almeria are wonderful.
___________________________________________________________________
7 The school was built in 1907. The school has about 800 students.
___________________________________________________________________
8 The government handled the diplomatic crisis badly. The government is facing corruption charges.
__________________________________________________________________________________
9 The Plaza Rodonda square is near the cathedral. They hold a market in The Plaza Rodonda square every Sunday. (use WHERE)
__________________________________________________________________________________
10 Samantha is coming to the party. Samantha's mother is mayoress of this town.
__________________________________________________________________________________