relative clause

American  

noun

• relative clauses
  plural

1. a subordinate clause introduced by a relative pronoun, adjective, or adverb, either expressed or deleted, especially such a clause modifying an antecedent, as who saw you in He's the man who saw you or (that ) I wrote in Here's the letter (that ) I wrote.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• relative clauses
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

relative clause

The linguists soon became suspicious about his Taensa grammar: The verbs seemed too regular, the relative clause structure too European.

From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2019

As we have noted often, a relative clause like this is plural, describing the group of which Bona Sun is one example.

From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2015

These two modifying constructions — a participle phrase and a relative clause — are not parallel and so should not be linked by “and.”

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2014

One part of the rule is correct: it's odd to use "that" with a nonrestrictive relative clause, as in "The pair of shoes, that cost £5,000, was hideous."

From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2014

There is nothing wrong with using which to introduce a restrictive relative clause, as in The pair of shoes which cost five thousand dollars was hideous.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker