Relative clauses

1. Can you answer the questions about the people in Box A? Use the information from Boxes B and C.

A

B

Frenchman      Italian      Jamaican      Japanese man

Moroccan      Russian      Swiss woman

C

He made the famous print The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

He made wonderful violins.

He produced the first permanent photograph.

He travelled through Africa and Asia.

She opened a waxworks museum in London.

She was the first female astronaut.

She worked as a nurse and saved many lives.


1) Mary Seacole was a Jamaican who worked as a nurse and saved many lives.

2) _________

3) _________

4) _________

5) _________

6) _________

7) _________

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2) Antonio Stradivari was an Italian who made wonderful violins.

3) Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan who travelled through Africa and Asia.

4) Marie Tussaud was a Swiss woman who opened a waxworks museum in London.

5) Valentina Tereshkova is a Russian who was the first female astronaut.

6) Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese man who made the famous print The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

7) Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was a Frenchman who produced the first permanent photograph.

2. Complete the conversation with who, that, whose or where. If no word is necessary, leave the space empty (–).

Zoe and Pat are planning a party next Thursday.

ZOE:   Well, who shall we ask to this party?

PAT:   Oh, not too many. Just a few people (1) __ __ we can be relaxed with.

ZOE:   Yes, I agree. So, who, for example?

PAT:   John and Jason, of course, and Carlo.

ZOE:   Carlo? Who’s he?

PAT:   He’s the Italian guy (2) __who __ is staying with John.

ZOE:   Oh, yeah. Is he the one (3) ________ wallet got stolen when they were in London?

PAT:   That’s right. They caught the guy (4) ________ took it, but he’d already spent all the money (5) ________ Carlo had brought with him.

ZOE:   Poor Carlo. Perhaps the party will cheer him up.

PAT:   It might, if we ask the girl (6) ________ he’s been going out with.

ZOE:   Who’s that?

PAT:   Celia’s her name. She works in that cinema (7) ________ they show all the new films.

ZOE:   But will she be free on Thursday evening?

PAT:   Yes, it’s her evening off. That’s the reason (8) ________ I suggested Thursday.

ZOE:   OK. Who else? What about Nicky and Cheryl?

PAT:   Are they the people (9) ________ you went to France with?

ZOE:   Yes. If they bring their boyfriends, that’ll be ten of us. But have you got a room (10) ________ is big enough? landlady says we can’t use her sitting room because we made too much mess the last time (11) ________ she let us have a party.

PAT:   It’s all right. Our house has got a basement (12) ________ we store old furniture. If we clean it up, it’ll be fine.

ZOE:   Great. Let’s go and have a look at it.

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3) whose   4) who/that   5)

6) –   7) where   8) –   9)

10) that   11) –   12) where

3. Complete the sentences with your own ideas. Use a relative pronoun.

1) I like meeting people __who have travelled widely. __

2) I enjoy parties __which go on till dawn. __

3) I avoid going to restaurants ________ .

4) Most of friends are people ________ .

5) I never watch films ________ .

6) favourite films are those ________ .

7) I feel sorry for students ________ .

8) best friend is someone ________ .

9) I’m going to buy a phone ________ .

10) I wish I had a job ________ .

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Example answers:

3) where the food is too expensive

4) who play football or volleyball

5) which have unhappy endings

6) in which there is plenty of action

7) whose parents don’t give them any money

8) to whom I can say anything

9) which takes good photos

10) which involved travelling

4. Tick (✓) the sentence which matches the situation.

1) I have three umbrellas. I bought one of them in Paris. That one needs repairing.


a The umbrella which I bought in Paris needs repairing. ✓

b The umbrella, which I bought in Paris, needs repairing.

2) I have one colleague. He works extremely hard. He has few friends.


a colleague who works extremely hard is not very popular.

b colleague, who works extremely hard, is not very popular. ✓

3) I have several aunts. One works in New York. She’s getting married.


a aunt who works in New York is getting married.

b aunt, who works in New York, is getting married.

4) Peter made some sandwiches. They have all been eaten. You made some too. Your sandwiches have not been eaten.


a The sandwiches which Peter made have all been eaten.

b The sandwiches, which Peter made, have all been eaten.

5) There was only one park in this town. Someone has built over it. We used to play in the park when we were children.


a The local park where we played as children has been built over.

b The local park, where we played as children, has been built over.

6) One of French teachers helps me with homework. The other one lives too far away.


a The French teacher whose house is near mine helps me with homework.

b The French teacher, whose house is near mine, helps me with homework.

7) You met one of cousins last summer, the one from the U.S. He’s coming to stay again.


a American cousin who you met last summer is coming to stay again.

b American cousin, who you met last summer, is coming to stay again.

8) There were a lot of candidates in the presidential election. Three of them were women. The winner was one of them. She had campaigned for better housing conditions.


a The woman who had campaigned for better housing conditions has been elected president.

b The woman, who had campaigned for better housing conditions, has been elected president.

9) I received lots of flowers when I was ill, but only boyfriend sent me roses. I put the roses in favourite vase.


a The roses which boyfriend sent look beautiful in favourite vase.

b The roses, which boyfriend sent, look beautiful in favourite vase.

10) I took two cameras away with me. You lent me one of them. That’s the one that got broken.


a The camera which you lent me has been broken.

b The camera, which you lent me, has been broken.

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3)5)7)9) b

4)6)8)10) a

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