DSE English: Relative Clauses (Tutor Prep Guide) — combining sentences, defining and non-defining

2026-11-05

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary English

The lesson fixes the two failures that show up most often: two verbs jammed into one sentence, and a comma pair that reverses the meaning.

Objectives — Students can find and circle the repeated noun in two sentences within thirty seconds; write both a defining and a non-defining version and explain the difference; and choose correctly between whose, where and when.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Nouns and pronouns	Say which noun who replaces in The boy who won	Answers the boy
Subject and verb agreement	Correct Two boys who runs	Answers runs becomes run
Two jobs of a comma	Name two uses of the comma in a sentence	Lists separating and adding information

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
5 minutes	Two-sentence demo	Write I met a boy. The boy won the race. on the board	Say which noun is repeated
8 minutes	Find the noun	Circle repeated nouns and show the swap to who	Circle repeated nouns in three pairs
12 minutes	Defining or not	Write the same sentence with and without commas and ask what changes	Explain the difference in meaning
10 minutes	whose and where	Model possession and place with four examples	Rewrite four sentences, two with whose and two with where
5 minutes	Misplacement check	Show The man who he called me and ask what is wrong	Circle the repeated subject he
5 minutes	Exit check	Hand out three combining items	Complete them and justify the commas

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Two sentences into one

Write the two sentences on separate lines and circle the repeated noun in red.
“Both the boy words point to the same person, so the second one can become who and the two sentences become one.” Then ask which verb is now the main verb of the combined sentence.

Ask students to repeat: the repeated noun becomes the relative word and two sentences become one.

Scene 2: Defining and non-defining

Write two lines: The students who studied hard passed. and The students, who studied hard, passed. Ask how many students passed in each.

Most common misconception: students think a comma is just a pause. With commas, every student studied hard; without them, only some did.

Ask students to repeat: with commas it adds information about all of them; without commas it limits to some.

Scene 3: whose, where and when

Model three sentences: The girl whose father is a doctor sits next to me; This is the school where he studied; I still remember the day when we met.
Be explicit: whose is followed by a noun, where and when are followed by a full clause, and when needs a time noun before it.

Ask students to repeat: whose takes a noun, where and when take a clause.

Scene 4: Misplacement

Write three faulty sentences: The man who he called me. The book which it is on the desk. The place where I visited it.
For each, ask which word is extra, and state that the relative clause must not repeat the subject or object.

Ask students to repeat: inside the relative clause, never repeat the noun or pronoun.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Subject: who or which	I know a girl. She speaks four languages.	Find the repeated noun; swap to who; delete she	I know a girl who speaks four languages.
Object: which or who	This is the book. I bought it yesterday.	Find the object; swap to which; delete it	This is the book which I bought yesterday.
Possessive: whose	That is the boy. His father teaches music.	his becomes whose; the noun follows immediately	That is the boy whose father teaches music.
Non-defining with commas	My uncle lives in Macau. He is a chef.	Commas around the clause; that is not allowed	My uncle, who is a chef, lives in Macau.

Sanity check (teach this): A combined sentence has only one main verb. Count the verbs: I know a girl who speaks has two verbs but one is inside the clause, so it is correct. I know a girl she speaks has two subjects, so it is wrong. A non-defining clause needs commas on both sides; a single comma leaves the sentence broken.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Combine: The film was boring. We watched it last night.	The film which we watched last night was boring.	Check that it is deleted after which
Combine: I have a friend. Her mother is a nurse.	I have a friend whose mother is a nurse.	Check whose is followed by a noun
Make it non-defining: Hong Kong has many hills. It is crowded.	Hong Kong, which is crowded, has many hills.	Check the commas come in a pair

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Repeated subject inside the clause	The man who he called me is my uncle.	Say: “Who already stands for the man, so he cannot appear again.”
Two verbs with no connector	I know a girl she speaks French.	Say: “Two subjects and two verbs need a relative word between them, not a comma.”
Only one comma in a non-defining clause	My uncle, who is a chef lives in Macau.	Say: “An adding clause needs a matching comma at the end as well.”
that after a comma	My car, that is red, is old.	Say: “With commas, that is not allowed. Use which.”

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

S5 Reading Long Questions guide, section 4, question types table row 1 — Underline every relative clause in the long answers and label it defining or non-defining
S4 Tense and Passive Voice guide, section 5, practice item 3 — After combining, check the clause verb tense matches the main clause

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
Combine: The teacher gave us a book. It is about space.	The teacher gave us a book which is about space.	Missing which or a leftover it means reteach the first act
In The players, who were tired, lost, how many were tired	All of them.	Answering some means reteach the second act
Correct: This is the house where I bought it.	This is the house where I bought my first car.	A leftover it means reteach the fourth act

09 Tutor FAQ

Which year group is this for

Mainly S5, and S4 in the second term before writing work; the focus is combining, not grammar terminology.

Is forty-five minutes enough

Yes. Model only two pairs and give the rest of the time to students; eight combined sentences each is the target.

Is there practice attached

Yes. Section 5 has three items, and the homework applies the same analysis to reading long answers with named items.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.