Relative clauses

For grown-ups: this lesson in words

Years 5 and 6 · English

Relative clauses: I can spot a relative clause and choose who, which, where, when, whose or that.

1. Read the sentence. Which dog ran into the kitchen?

   "Which had muddy paws" tells us more about the dog. It is a relative clause.

   A relative clause adds detail about a noun. Here the noun is dog.

   Picture: The sentence "The dog, which had muddy paws, ran into the kitchen.", with "dog" labelled noun and "which had muddy paws" marked as a relative clause.

2. A relative clause starts with a relative pronoun. Here there are two: who and which.

   A baker is a person, so the clause about the baker starts with who.

   A house is a thing, so the clause about the house starts with which.

   Picture: The sentence "The baker who made the bread lives in the house which has a red door.", with "who" labelled pronoun and "which" labelled pronoun, "who made the bread" marked as a relative clause and "which has a red door" marked as a relative clause.

3. Your turn: Tap the relative pronoun, the word that starts the relative clause.

   Picture: The sentence "Aisha, who loves painting, won a prize."

   Tap the right word.

   Answer

   The answer: who

   "Who loves painting" is the relative clause. It starts with the relative pronoun who.

   Picture: The sentence "Aisha, who loves painting, won a prize.", with "who" labelled pronoun and "who loves painting" marked as a relative clause.

Words to know

relative clause:

A group of words that adds detail about a noun.

relative pronoun:

The word that starts a relative clause: who, which, where, when, whose or that.

main clause:

The part of a sentence that makes sense on its own.

noun:

A word for a person, an animal, a thing, a place or a time.