Term: Defining Relative Clauses

A defining relative clause gives essential information about the noun or noun phrase it modifies, without which the sentence wouldn't make sense as the listener or reader would not be able to identify the noun in the sentence:

The hotel that we stayed in wasn't bad. ('that we stayed in' tells the listener which hotel we are talking about; it defines the hotel)

'Who', 'whose' and 'that' can be used for people. 'Which' 'whose' and 'that' can be used for things.

See also: Relative Pronoun; Non-defining Relative Clause; Relative Clause

Related Article: Relative Clauses - Learn about Relative Pronouns in Non-Restrictive Clauses (Non-Defining clauses) and Restrictive Clauses (Defining clauses).