Understanding Non-Defining Relative Clauses

This page introduces the fundamental concepts of non-defining relative clauses and their usage in English grammar. The content focuses on explaining how these clauses provide additional, non-essential information about the antecedent.

Definition: Non-defining relative clauses (explicativas in Spanish) provide extra information about the antecedent that isn't essential for understanding the main sentence and are always enclosed in commas.

Vocabulary: The key relative pronouns used are who(m), which, whose, and where. Notable exception: 'that' cannot be used in non-defining clauses.

Highlight: The relative pronoun can never be omitted in non-defining relative clauses, and commas are mandatory.

Example: "Tom's father, who is 78, goes swimming every day" demonstrates how non-essential information about Tom's father is enclosed in commas.

The page includes fifteen practice sentences for combining pairs of sentences into relative clauses, providing students with practical application of the concepts learned.