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relative clause

American  

noun

  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.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The sentence would still be able to stand without the relative clause.

From BBC

They created a short online grammar quiz called Which English? that tested noun–verb agreement, pronouns, prepositions and relative clauses, among other linguistic elements.

From Scientific American

It is used in questions and relative clauses, which are rarer and more complex than “he saw him” type sentences.

From Economist

According to the traditional rule, the choice depends on which of two kinds of relative clause the word is introducing.

From Literature

“Which” can be either subjective or objective case — it is used for both the subject and the object of a relative clause.

From New York Times