Study the rules, look at the examples, then do the exercises.
A relative clause gives more information about a noun (a person, thing or place). Instead of writing two short sentences, we join them with a relative pronoun: who, which, that, whose, where or when. This is one of the most useful skills at B1, because it makes your speaking and writing sound smooth and grown-up.
Look at how two sentences become one:
The pronoun you choose depends on the kind of noun you are describing. Learn this table well — it answers most exam questions.
| Pronoun | Use it for... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | people | The man who lives next door is a doctor. |
| which | things / animals | This is the phone which takes great photos. |
| that | people or things (informal) | The book that won the prize is here. |
| whose | possession (belonging) | She's the artist whose paintings are famous. |
| where | places | That's the town where I was born. |
| when | times | I'll never forget the day when we met. |
A defining relative clause tells you which person or thing we mean. Without it, the sentence does not make full sense. We do NOT use commas.
A non-defining relative clause adds extra information that we could remove. The sentence still makes sense without it. We put it between commas, and we do NOT use that.
The two commas are not decoration — they can change what the sentence means. Compare:
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| My sister who lives in Berlin is a nurse. | I have more than one sister; I mean the Berlin one. (defining, no commas) |
| My sister, who lives in Berlin, is a nurse. | I have only one sister; "in Berlin" is just extra news. (non-defining, commas) |
In a defining clause, if the relative pronoun is the object of the verb, we can leave it out. This is very common in natural English.
These are the errors B1 students make most often with relative clauses. Check your own writing against this list.
| Wrong ✗ | Right ✓ | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| My mother, that is a teacher, is kind. | My mother, who is a teacher, is kind. | non-defining clause → never use "that". |
| My laptop which is old still works. | My laptop, which is old, still works. | extra information → needs two commas. |
| She's the girl who's dog won. | She's the girl whose dog won. | "whose" = possession; "who's" = who is. |
| This is the house where I grew up in it. | This is the house where I grew up. | "where" already means "in that place"; no extra "in it". |
| The person which called you is here. | The person who called you is here. | use "who" (or "that") for people, not "which". |
Two friends look at old photos and describe the people and places in them. Read it twice and notice each relative clause — which are defining (no commas) and which are non-defining (commas)?
Choose the correct answer. — 10 questions, each one is marked instantly. Questions get harder as you go.
Learn the words, then use them to describe the people and places in your life.
Write 8 sentences describing people, places and things in your life. Use at least 8 of the words above.
Sentence starters (you can begin with these):
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will review your task.)
Read the text, then answer the questions.
Good readers prepare before they start. Before you read, think about these three questions (you do not need to write the answers):
Words to spot (from the Speaking section): relative · landmark · reliable · talented · remote · spacious · describe · belong
Zeynep is a student who has always loved reading. The school where she studies once had a small library, but by the time she started high school, it was closed and full of dust. Zeynep, who could not imagine a school without books, decided to act, because she believed that every student deserved a quiet place to read.
Even when she was younger, books were a big part of her life. She often stayed up late, reading under a blanket with a small light, because she wanted to know how the story ended. At school, she and two close friends used to swap the books they liked best and talk about them during lunch. For Zeynep, a good story was better than any video game, and she felt sad that the students in the lower years had nowhere to sit and read together. Many of her friends spent every break looking at their phones, and she thought a real library could give them something different.
Two years ago she found a room that nobody used. It was the oldest classroom in the building, and its shelves, which had not been cleaned for years, were empty and broken. Many classmates thought the idea was silly. However, Zeynep had a clear plan. She wanted to create a place where students could read, study and meet after class.
The first job was to clean the room, and it was harder than she had imagined. On the first Saturday, only three people came to help: Zeynep, her best friend Aylin, and her younger brother. They swept the floor, wiped the old windows, and carried out the broken chairs that nobody wanted. Slowly, more teenagers started to join them. Some brought brushes and paint, and together they painted the walls a bright, warm colour. One boy from the art class drew a huge tree on one wall, with a book hanging from every branch, and it quickly became everyone's favourite part of the room.
The project, which took two years, was not easy. She wanted real books, so she asked families whose children had already left the school to donate the ones they no longer needed. There were also weeks when almost no one came to help. But she never gave up.
Finding enough books was one of the biggest problems, so Zeynep and her friends became creative. They made short videos for the school's social media pages, showing the empty shelves and asking for stories, comics and study guides. The posts were shared by hundreds of students, and boxes of books soon began to arrive. To raise a little money for shelves and new lamps, the group organised a weekend book fair in the schoolyard, where students could buy second-hand books and homemade cakes. Teachers who had once called the plan a waste of time started to smile when they saw how serious the young volunteers were.
Today, the library that Zeynep saved is the busiest room in the school. The room where dust once covered every shelf is now full of colour. Students who love stories come in every day, and the teachers, who once doubted her, are proud of what she has done.
The library is now much more than a quiet room full of shelves. Every month the students choose a "book of the month", and anyone who reads it can join a friendly meeting to talk about the ending. Before big exams, the tables fill up with teenagers who study together, share notes, and quietly help each other with difficult subjects. Younger students, who used to feel shy, have made new friends there, and a few of them have even started writing their own short stories. Zeynep still runs a small reading club after class, and she is teaching two ninth-grade students how to look after the books so that the library will stay open long after she leaves.
The library has also brought together students who never used to spend time in the same place. The players from the school football team, who once thought reading was boring, now borrow books about their favourite sports stars and how they became famous. Some students come to draw, others to plan the school magazine, and a group of friends meets there on Fridays to play quiet board games after training. Because everyone follows the same simple rules, the room stays calm, and even the noisiest teenagers speak softly when they walk inside.
Zeynep still remembers the day when she opened the door for the first time. "It was the moment that changed my school life," she says. "This is the place where I grew up as a reader, and now it has a future."
Her advice to other teenagers is simple. "You do not have to be older, richer or famous to change something at your school," she says. "If you really care about an idea, start small, ask your friends for help, and keep going even when people laugh. One empty room and a few boxes of books were enough for us." Next year Zeynep hopes to open a second corner in the library for films and music, so that every student, whatever they enjoy, can find a reason to walk through the door.
Choose the correct answer.
Are these sentences true or false, according to the text?
Complete each sentence with ONE relative pronoun from the text (who, which, that, whose, where, when).
Write your answer in your own words. These questions are not marked automatically.
1. Why did Zeynep decide to save the school library?
2. Why did Zeynep ask families whose children had left the school for help?
3. What do you think Zeynep means when she says the library "now has a future"?
Find these connectors in the text — each one appears at least once: and, but, so, because, however, when, where, also. (You will use these same connectors in the Writing section.) Note them down, then check.
Todd and Darcy discuss whether some common English sayings are really true.
You will hear two friends, Todd and Darcy, talking about famous English sayings such as "It's not what you know, but who you know". You will listen TWICE. First listen: answer questions 1-5. Second listen: answer questions 6-10. (Kaydı İKİ kez dinleyeceksin: ilk dinlemede 1-5, ikinci dinlemede 6-10.)
Write and submit your description; your teacher will review it.
A good description does two things: it adds detail with relative clauses, and it links ideas with connectors. At A2 you used and, but, so, because. At B1 you add also, when, while, although and however, and you use relative clauses to pack more information into each sentence.
| Connector | Use it to... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| and | add information | She's a friend who is kind and always honest. |
| but | show a small contrast | My room, which is small, is cosy, but it has no window. |
| so | show a result | He's reliable, so he's the person who I always call. |
| because | give a reason | I love the café because it's a place where I can relax. |
| also | add an extra point | She's talented. She's also a person whose ideas inspire me. |
| when | say at what past time | When I was a child, the village where we lived was quiet. |
| while | two things at the same time | While I was there, I met a boy who became a good friend. |
| although | show a strong contrast | Although the town is remote, it's a place that I love. |
| however | contrast between two sentences | The house was old. However, it was the home where I grew up. |
See the difference — the same facts, written two ways:
| Separate sentences ✗ | Connected, fluent writing ✓ |
|---|---|
| I have a friend. Her name is Aylin. She plays the guitar. She lives in Izmir. Her house is lovely. We spend weekends there. | I have a friend called Aylin, who plays the guitar and lives in Izmir. Her house, which is lovely, is the place where we spend every weekend. |
A description paragraph has three parts. The skeleton stays the same every time — you change the content, not the structure:
| Part | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Opening | Introduce the person or place with a defining relative clause | There is a place that means a lot to me. |
| 2. Body | Add details with more relative clauses. Use non-defining clauses (commas) for extra facts, and link with connectors. | The house, which is over a hundred years old, is where my grandmother lived. She was a person whose stories I loved. |
| 3. Closing | A final comment about why it matters now | It is still the place where I feel most at home. |
Describe a person, place or thing that is important to you. Use relative clauses to add detail.
Değerlendirme öğretmenin tarafından yapılacak. (Your teacher will evaluate your writing.)
Mixed questions from the whole unit, then check what you can do.
14 questions: grammar + vocabulary + reading + listening. Each question is marked instantly.
Tick what you can do now. Honest answers help your teacher.
İşaretlemediğin madde varsa ilgili bölüme dönüp tekrar çalış — soldaki menüden her bölüme geri dönebilirsin.
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