Relative Clauses Year 6 — KS2 Grammar with Examples

What Is a Relative Clause?

A relative clause is a chunk of extra information about a noun. It starts with a relative pronoun — who, which, that, where, or whose — and it slots into (or onto the end of) a sentence.

Here’s the test: take the relative clause out. Does the sentence still make sense? “The teacher smiled at the class.” Yes — still works. That’s how your child knows it’s a relative clause. It adds detail, but the sentence survives without it.

The Five Relative Pronouns

There are only five words that start a relative clause. Get your child to learn them like a little checklist:

• who — for people. “The boy who scored the goal celebrated.”
• which — for things. “The dog, which was enormous, barked loudly.”
• that — for people or things. “The cake that Mum baked was delicious.”
• where — for places. “The park where we play football is being repaired.”
• whose — for possession. “The girl whose bag was stolen told the teacher.”

If your child can spot one of these five words connecting back to a noun, they’ve found a relative clause. Simple as that.

Embedded vs End Relative Clauses

A relative clause can sit in two places. Understanding the difference matters for punctuation.

Embedded — drops into the middle of the sentence with commas either side:

End — tagged onto the end of the sentence:

SATs questions often ask children to add a relative clause to a sentence. Knowing these two positions means they can choose where to put it — and get the commas right.

Punctuation — When Do You Need Commas?

This is the bit that trips up even the brightest kids. The rule sounds fiddly, but it’s actually quite logical:

• If the relative clause adds extra (non-essential) information, use commas. You could remove it and the meaning stays the same.
• If the relative clause is essential to identify which person or thing you mean, no commas.

In the SATs, the most common question is “Where should the commas go?” If your child asks themselves “Do I need this bit to know whichone?” they’ll get it right.

What SATs GPS Questions Look Like

On the GPS paper, relative clause questions tend to come in three flavours:

• “Add a relative clause to this sentence using who.”
• “Where should the commas go in this sentence?”
• “Which word is a relative pronoun?”

They’re not trying to trick your child. They just want to see that they know what a relative clause is, which words start one, and where the commas belong. Straight practice on these three question types is the fastest path to full marks.

Common Mistakes

• Missing commas around embedded clauses — the most frequent error. If it’s sitting in the middle, it needs commas on both sides.
• Using “what” instead of “which” or “that” — “The book what I read” is wrong in Standard English. It should be “The book that I read.”
• Confusing relative pronouns with conjunctions — “because” and “although” start subordinate clauses, not relative clauses. If it doesn’t link back to a noun, it’s not relative.
• Only using commas at the start — children often put a comma before the embedded clause but forget the one after it.

Quick Practice

Here’s a simple exercise your child can do right now. Take any boring sentence and bolt on a relative clause:

Once they’ve cracked this, relative clauses stop being a grammar rule and start being a tool they actually use in their writing. That’s when the marks really start stacking up.