Relative Clause (definition)

A relative clause is a clause that modifies a noun. For example, the bold phased strings in the following sentences are clauses that modify the italicized noun. They are often introduced with a wh-word or a complementizer, although these can be omitted.

• the man who I saw last week
• the book that I left on the table

References

Matthews, P. H. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

See Also

• Clause (definition)
• Noun Phrases
• Relative Clause
• Wh-constructions
• Indirect (definition)
• Direct (definition)