defining
adjective uk/dɪˈfaɪ.nɪŋ/ us/dɪˈfaɪ.nɪŋ/
(LANGUAGE)
language specialized 限定性的
(of a clause) giving information about someone or something that is necessary in order to understand who or what is being referred to, or (of a pronoun) used in a clause like this
No commas are used before defining clauses. 在限定性从句前不使用逗号。
In "They interviewed the woman whose dog had been rescued", "whose dog had been rescued" is a defining relative clause because it makes clear which woman is being talked about. 在“They interviewed the woman whose dog had been rescued”这句话中，“whose dog had been rescued”是限定性关系从名，因为它能表明谈及的是哪一个女性。
We can use "who" or "that" as a defining relative pronoun to talk about people. 我们可以用“who”或者“that”作为限定性关系代词来谈论人。
Compare: non-defining
- More examples
- Defining clauses give essential information to identify the person or thing we are talking about.
- If we remove the defining relative clause from the sentence "Cats that have blue eyes are very unusual", the meaning of the sentence changes completely.
- If we say "the Sam who we used to know", there is more than one Sam and "who we used to know" serves as a defining relative clause.
- Is this clause defining or non-defining?