Here are the sentences joined using defining or non-defining relative clauses: 1. My girlfriend, who has taught me a lot, is a teacher. 2. The doctor who cured the Chief Executive of pneumonia is famous. 3. The man who runs 2 km every day is a fireman. 4. My father, who is very hardworking, is a merchant. 5. Jolie's boyfriend, who is so stupid, asked for help. 6. The boy who sings sweetly has a good voice. 7. Kelly Chan, who is a famous singer, is the woman.

1. Defining and
Non-defining
Relative Clause

2. Defining Relative Clause
• The boy is dandy. (Which one?)
• The boy who likes blowing whistle is
dandy.
• If we don’t have the relative clause, we may not
know which boy the speaker is talking about.
Therefore, the underlined relative clause is ‘defining clause’.

3. Defining Relative Clause
• We use defining relative clause to define
which person or thing the speaker is
referring to.
• The clause is necessary. Otherwise, we
may not be able to figure out which person
or thing the speaker is talking about.

4. Defining or Non-defining?
• Compare these two sentences
The girl who has three brothers is my
classmate.
May, who has three brothers, is my
classmate.

5. Defining or Non-defining?
• What are the differences?
1. Different subject
- ‘The girl’ vs. ‘May’
2. The use of commas (,) in the
second one

6. Defining or Non-defining?
• In the second sentence, the relative clause gives
extra information about the subject.
May is my classmate.
• Without the clause, we can still figure out who
(May) the subject is.
• Therefore, the first one is defining clause
whereas the second one is non-defining clause.

7. Defining or Non-defining?
• ‘May’ is a subject which is more explicit than ‘the
girl’.
• We usually use non-defining clause for more
explicit subjects. For example:
– Proper names (e.g. John, Mary, Sandy etc.)
– Subject with possessive adjectives (e.g.
my, her, his, their, our etc.)
– Demonstrative pronouns (e.g. this, that, those etc.)

8. Exercise Time
• Try to join the sentences by using defining or
non-defining relative clause.
1. My girlfriend has taught me a lot. She is a
teacher.
2. The doctor is famous. He cured the Chief
Executive of pneumonia.
3. The man runs 2 km every day. He is a
fireman.

9. 4. My father is very hardworking. He is a
merchant.
5. Jolie's boyfriend asked for help. He is so
stupid.
6. The boy sings sweetly. He has a good voice.
7. The woman is Kelly Chan. She is a famous
singer.