Person 1: So my new boyfriend is tall and he’s so funny and very clever,
he has the most beautiful green eyes and he loves to go to museums, which is why we get on so well.
We actually went to a museum on our first date and it was so romantic. We just think exactly the same
thing about everything. So yeah, he’s really kind and he teaches children to play football
on Saturday mornings and I usually go to watch so we can go out for lunch afterwards. Anyway,
what was your question again? Person 2:
What does he do for work? Person 1: Oh, he’s a dentist.
Giving more information than necessary is something we do quite often. Sometimes you just
decide to give more detail or you really want someone to understand more about a situation.
When giving non-essential extra information, we use a non-defining relative clause.
Non-defining means that this extra information does not change the meaning of the sentence,
it is purely used to give more detail. If you need to add an essential piece
of information into a sentence, you can use a defining relative clause instead. There’s already
a video on my channel about those so I will put a link in the description so that you can watch
that one next and learn the differences. A sentence which includes a non-defining
relative clause must also have a main clause, which is split into two parts
after the subject. Let’s use the example of a meal which is delicious and is also vegetarian.
The main clause would be ‘The meal is delicious’. The subject in this sentence is the ‘meal’, so we
put the non-defining relative clause in the middle of the main clause, after the subject to get ‘The
meal, which is vegetarian, is delicious’. The word ‘which’ in this sentence is a relative pronoun.
In the case of objects, places and things, you can use the word ‘which’. However, when the subject
of the sentence is a person, you should use the word ‘who’ as the relative pronoun. For example:
‘My sister, who is younger than me, works in a school’.
When putting an additional clause into the middle of an existing clause,
it is important to use commas to separate them so that the sentence is easier to read and
understand. In this case, you should put a comma on either side of the non-defining relative clause
when writing it down to show this and you’ll often hear Native English speakers naturally
pausing in the place of these commas to make it clear when speaking and listening too.
Our wedding, which is in July, is going to have 120 guests.
Their French teacher, who is new to the school, is absolutely brilliant.
My cooking skills, which are very limited, have improved since I bought this cookbook.
So now you know all about how to add additional information using
a non-defining relative clause in the middle of a sentence.
It’s time to put that knowledge to the test. I am going to give you 5 people or objects and I would
like you to describe them in the comments using a sentence with a non-defining relative clause, like
the ones we have been practicing. Your answers can be real or you can use your imagination to
describe things that don’t really exist but I would like you to be as creative as you can.
First of all, I would like you to describe your ideal pet.
Next, I would like you to describe the most important teacher you had at school.
Thirdly, I would like you to describe your favourite city.
Now I would like you to describe your childhood best friend.
Lastly, I would like you to describe your favourite meal.
So there were 5 sentences for you to write in the comments for your homework.
I’m looking forward to reading them and seeing your new English skills in action
with your non-defining relative clauses. Take care for now. I'll see you soon