Relative pronouns and relative clauses | - | LearnEnglish. Relative clauses. We use relative clauses to describe or give extra information about something we have already mentioned. We often use relative pronouns (e.g. who, where, that, which, whose) to introduce relative clauses. What are relative clauses and why do we use them? A clause is a group of words containing a verb. Relative clauses are a way of giving more information about a person, thing, place, event, etc.
The Uros people make fires. OK, so there the relative pronoun is 'which' and it refers back to 'the fires' and 'which they use for cooking' is the relative clause. That’s right, which is used for things (never for people). What are defining relative clauses? They are clauses that you need in the sentence for it to make sense.
The people who live here have had the same kind of lifestyle for hundreds of years. If I said 'The people have had the same kind of lifestyle for hundreds of years', you wouldn’t know which people I was talking about. There are no commas before and after the clause. BBC Learning English - Course: intermediate / Unit 18 / Grammar Reference.