…a grammatical unit with a subject and a verb.
Do the next sentences make sense by themselves in a separate way?
You can play video games. Independent clause or sentence
After you finish your homework. Dependent clause
The first sentence do, but the second one has a lack of information.
Independent clauses make sense by themselves, but dependent clauses need more information to complete the idea. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence.
Combine the next tow ideas.
John is an English teacher. Independent clause
He works at Platzi Independent clause
Result: Jhon is an English teacher who works at Platzi.
Jhon is an English teacher
Independent clause or sentence
who
Relative pronoun
works at Platzi.
Relative clause
A relative pronoun replaces the subject and makes reference to the main subject.
The second part of the sentence is not longer a sentence, it’s consider a relative clause, because it is connected to a relative pronoun.
We use relative pronouns when we want to do three things:
Are these clauses dependent or independent?
Link the following clauses using the corresponding relative pronoun
She works for a businessman (the man lives in London).
She works for a businessman who lives in London.
They called a lawyer (the lawyer lived nearby).
They called a lawyer who lived nearby.
I sent an email to my dad (my dad lives in Canada).
I sent an email to my dad who lives in Canada.
The customer liked the food (the food was very tasty).
The costumer liked the food which was very tasty.
We broke the laptop (the laptop belonged to my mom).
We broke the laptop which belonged to my mom.
I dropped my phone (the phone was new).
I dropped my phone which was new.
She loves movies (the movies have happy endings).
She loves movies that have happy endings.
They live in a little town (the little town is in the north of Chile).
They live in a little town which is in the north of Chile.
The man is in the garden (the man is wearing a red hat).
The man, who is in the garden, is wearing a red hat.
The girl works in a factory (the girl is from Austria).
The girl, who works in a factory, is from Austria.
A clause is a grammatical unit with a subject and a verb. For example: I have a dog.
We have two types of clauses:
Independent clauses or sentences make sense by themselves.
For example: You can leave now.
Dependent clauses need more information to complete an idea. A dependent clause cannot be consider a sentence.
For example: If you have finished your homework.
When we want to combine two different independent clauses, we need to use a relative pronoun, which replaces and references the main subject.
Example:
This book is very interesting. It is about science fiction.
This book, which is about science fiction, is very interesting.
The second part is not anymore a sentence, now, it is known as relative clause.
We use relative pronouns when we want to do three things: