The man who lives next door is very friendly.
In the above sentence, the relative clause who lives next door modifies the noun ‘man’. It gives more information about the subject and is essential to the sentence.
Relative clauses are introduced by the relative pronoun who, whom, whose, which, or that . Like all clauses, relative clauses have a subject and a verb.
For eg : The students who worked hard scored an A grade.
In this sentence, the relative pronoun who introduces the relative clause who worked hard . The relative clause modifies the plural noun students. The word who is the subject of the relative clause and were is the verb.
Another example: It was an experience that I can never forget.
In this sentence, the relative pronoun that introduces the relative clause that influenced my career choice , which modifies the singular noun experience . The word that is the subject of the relative clause and influenced is the verb.
Relative clauses are extremely useful because they enable us to be more specific and make our writing more sophisticated.
