Relative Clauses Defining
- Not: Build defining relative clauses with who/which/that/whose/where/when.
- Not: Drop the object pronoun correctly (the book I bought).
- TR: Ismi niteleyen yan cumleler kurmak (tanımlayan).
Start the 8-question quizAdapts to your answers · every miss links back to the rule
Rule in 60 secondsThe one pattern to memorise.
- Not: Defining clause = essential information, no commas.
- Not: who (people), which (things), that (both), whose (possession), where (place), when (time).
- TR: Hangi sorusunun cevabi sartsa defining, virgul yok.
FormsHow it looks in sentences.
| Pronoun | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who / that | people (subject) | The man who called is my uncle. |
| which / that | things (subject) | The car which broke down is fixed. |
| whom / who / that / — | people (object) | The girl (who) I met is kind. |
| which / that / — | things (object) | The book (that) I bought is great. |
| whose | possession | The boy whose bike was stolen cried. |
| where | place | The city where I was born is small. |
| when | time | The day when we met was sunny. |
- Object pronouns can be dropped: "The film (that) we watched was long."
- TR: Nesne zamirini atabilirsin; ozneyi atamazsin.
- Wrong drop: "The man called you is here." (who = subject, cannot drop)
- Right: "The man who called you is here."
- Örnek:
SUBJECT (can't drop): The woman WHO lives next door is a doctor. - Örnek:
OBJECT (can drop): The cake (THAT) you made was delicious. - Örnek:
WHOSE: a friend WHOSE father is a pilot. / WHERE: the cafe WHERE we met.
3 classic trapsWhere Turkish speakers slip.
- Tuzak 1 — Dropping a subject pronoun: ❌
The people live here are friendly.→ ✅The people who live here are friendly. - TR: Ozne konumundaki who/which/that atilmaz.
- Tuzak 2 — Commas in defining clauses:
- ❌ Yanlış:
My brother, who lives in Berlin, is an engineer. (this = non-defining, different meaning) - ✅ Doğru:
My brother who lives in Berlin is an engineer. (I have more than one brother) - TR: Defining'de virgul yok.
- Tuzak 3 — What as a relative pronoun: ❌
The book what I bought...→ ✅The book that/which I bought... - TR: what baglac olarak kullanilmaz; that/which kullan.
10 example sentencesRead aloud, twice.
- The man who helped us was very kind. — Bize yardim eden adam cok nazikti.
- The phone that I bought is already broken. — Aldigim telefon coktan bozuldu.
- She visited the village where she was born. — Dogdugu koyu ziyaret etti.
- The student whose homework was missing apologised. — Odevi eksik olan ogrenci ozur diledi.
- Do you remember the day when we first met?. — Ilk tanistigimiz gunu hatirliyor musun?
- The restaurant which we tried last night was amazing. — Dun gece denedigimiz restoran muhtesemdi.
- Anyone who wants to join must sign up. — Katilmak isteyen herkes kaydolmalı.
- The movie we watched was too long. — Izledigimiz film cok uzundu. (that dropped)
- He has a friend whose sister is famous. — Kiz kardesi unlu olan bir arkadasi var.
- This is the reason that I called you. — Seni arama sebebim bu.
Quick checkCover the answers, say yours first.
- Soru 1: The woman ___ lives there is a nurse. (who/—) → who (subject, keep).
- Soru 2: The book ___ I bought... (drop ok?) → (that) — yes, object.
- Soru 3: Fix: "The people live here are nice." → The people who live here...
- Soru 4: The boy ___ bike was stolen... → whose.
- Soru 5: The day ___ we met... → when.
- Soru 6: The city ___ I grew up... → where.
- Soru 7: Fix: "The car what I sold..." → that/which I sold.
- Soru 8: Join or not? "The house, which is old, is mine." → non-defining (commas) — different lesson.