Question

Choose the part that contains a non-defining relative clause-
Jane, who is my colleague and friend, has decided to resign from the company.
a) Jane has decided to resign
b) who is my colleague and friend
c) has decided to resign
d) from the company

Answer 1

Hint: A non-defining relative clause refers to a clause that provides information about something that is not helpful in defining whatever we are talking about or referring to.

Complete answer:
As given in the hint, non-defining relative clauses talk about something in general, they do not provide any extra information.
Example- My grandfather, who lives in the countryside, has decided to sell his estate. Here, we can conclude that X’s grandfather, who lives in the countryside, has decided to sell off his property. ‘Who lives in the countryside’ is the non-defining relative clause as it provides information that is not helpful in defining the grandfather in particular.
In the given question- ‘Who is my colleague and friend’ is the non-defining relative clause as it provides information about Jane, which is not helpful.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
Option a- ‘Jane has decided to resign’ is not a non-defining relative clause as it does not contain a relative clause. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option b- ‘who is my colleague and friend’ is the non-defining relative clause as it contains the relative clause ‘who’. Hence, it is the correct option.
Option c- ‘has decided to resign’ is not a non-defining relative clause as it does not contain a relative pronoun and it is not a clause but only part of a sentence. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option d- ‘from the company’ is a part of a sentence that is given without a subject. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
So, the correct answer is “Option b”.

Note:
A non-defining relative clause is made up of a relative pronoun, verb and/ or the subject or object. Example- John, who is sixteen, lives next door. Here, ‘who’ is the relative pronoun and ‘is’ the auxiliary verb, while ‘sixteen’ is the object.