Restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses: Activity 4

Have a go at writing your own relative clauses by mixing and matching the clauses below. Join them together with that, which or who.

I like the cake… …that…
…which…
…who…
… likes to play the piano
Have you read the book… … tastes of strawberries
Yesterday I met a boy… … I gave to you
Jake has a younger sister… … knew how to juggle
I have a hamster… … is very peculiar

Choose how you are going to make your meaning clear to the reader.

  • Are you going to use punctuation to identify a restrictive relative clause?
  • Are you going to vary your choice of subordinating conjunctions?
  • Or is it clear from the context what kind of relative clause you are using?

For each of your sentences, say whether the relative clause is restrictive or non-restrictive. Think of a situation in which the restrictive or non-restrictive relative clause would make sense.

For example:

Context Type of relative clause
I like the cake that I gave to you but not the one that I gave to Hanna. Restrictive
I like the cake, which I gave to you, but I hate the biscuits, which I fed to the dog! Non-restrictive

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