The Foundation
Level 1 The absolute basics. Two skills share this masterclass, and both are about joining ideas cleanly. A relative clause adds information about a noun — the girl who won the quiz. A verb pattern decides the shape of a second verb when two verbs meet — I enjoy reading but I want to read.
Picture the big group photo after a wedding. You say the boy who is holding the bat and instantly every eye jumps to the right boy. That little clause is a label pinned onto exactly one person in the crowd. Now the commas work the magic. No commas means the label is essential — it tells us which boy (a defining clause). Commas mean the label is just bonus gossip we could delete: Rohit, who is holding the bat, is my cousin (a non-defining clause, because we already know who Rohit is).
The second half is about verb costumes. When one verb follows another, the second must wear the right grammatical costume: some verbs demand the -ing costume (avoid waiting), some demand the to- costume (hope to win), and a mischievous few change meaning depending on the costume you choose (stop smoking versus stop to smoke). There is no deep logic to memorise verb by verb — just as you wear whites for a Test match and colours to a mehndi, you simply learn which verb takes which costume, plus a handful of tricky pairs.
So the whole masterclass is two clean questions. For a relative clause: is the extra information essential or just bonus? That single choice fixes the commas and the pronoun. For a verb pattern: which costume does the first verb demand? Make those two habits automatic and the most common exam errors simply vanish before you write them.
- Relative clause — a label on a noun: the film that we saw.
- Defining — no commas, tells you which one.
- Non-defining — commas, adds a bonus fact.
- Verb pattern — the costume of verb two:
-ingorto-.
Visual Architecture
Two maps below: a mind map of the whole topic, then a flowchart that decides defining versus non-defining.
View Mermaid.js source
mindmap
root((Relatives and Verbs))
Relative clauses
Defining no commas
Non defining commas
Pronoun menu
who whom which
that whose where
Reduced clauses
Verb patterns
Verb plus ing
Verb plus to
Same meaning verbs
Meaning changing pairs
stop and remember
try and forgetView Mermaid.js source
flowchart TD
A[Extra info about a noun] --> B{Is it essential<br/>which one}
B -->|Yes essential| D[Defining clause]
D --> D1[No commas]
D --> D2[that is allowed]
D --> D3[can drop object pronoun]
B -->|No just extra| N[Non defining clause]
N --> N1[Use commas]
N --> N2[never use that]
N --> N3[keep the pronoun]The Deep Dive
Level 2 The mechanics you use every day.
Relative clauses — the pronoun menu. Choose the relative pronoun to match what the noun is. Use that only in defining clauses; once commas appear, that is banned.
| Pronoun | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | people (subject) | the nurse who helped us |
| whom | people (object, formal) | the friend whom I trust |
| which | things and animals | the train which was late |
| that | people or things (defining only) | the film that we saw |
| whose | possession | the boy whose bat broke |
| where / when / why | place / time / reason | the town where I grew up |
Dropping the pronoun. In a defining clause, when the pronoun is the object of the clause you may delete it: the film (that) we saw, the man (whom) I met. You cannot drop a subject pronoun — the man who phoned keeps its who — and you never drop the pronoun in a non-defining clause.
Prepositions with relatives. Everyday English pushes the preposition to the end (stranding): the house which we lived in. Formal English pulls it in front of whom or which: the house in which we lived. You can never front it before that — in that is impossible.
which for a whole clause. To comment on an entire idea rather than one noun, use a non-defining which: He was late again, which annoyed everyone. Here which means the whole fact, and it always takes a comma.
Verb patterns — the two big lists. When a verb governs another verb, learn the costume it demands.
Verb + -ing | Verb + to- |
|---|---|
| enjoy, avoid, finish, mind | want, hope, decide, refuse |
| suggest, admit, deny, imagine | manage, afford, promise, agree |
| can’t help, keep, practise | learn, offer, expect, plan |
| look forward to, be used to | would like, need, seem |
Bare infinitive and object patterns. After make and let, use the bare verb with no to: She made me wait, Let him go. But want / tell / ask take an object and then to: I want you to come, tell him to stop. And every preposition takes -ing, never to-: good at drawing, tired of waiting, before leaving.
Same meaning, free choice. A few verbs — begin, start, continue, like, love, hate, prefer — accept either costume with no real change: It began to rain = It began raining.
Level 3 The expert edge — pairs that flip meaning. With these verbs the costume changes the meaning, and examiners love them.
| Verb | + -ing (the action itself) | + to- (the purpose or next step) |
|---|---|---|
| stop | stop smoking = quit it | stop to smoke = pause in order to |
| remember | remember locking = recall a memory | remember to lock = do not forget |
| forget | forget meeting = lose the memory | forget to post = fail to do it |
| try | try opening = experiment | try to open = attempt something hard |
| regret | regret saying = be sorry it happened | regret to say = sorry to announce |
| go on | go on talking = continue | go on to talk = move to a new thing |
Reduced relative clauses. You can trim a relative clause to save words. An active clause shrinks to an -ing phrase: the man who is standing → the man standing at the gate. A passive clause shrinks to a past participle: the letters that were sent → the letters sent yesterday.
need + -ing (British). In British English a thing that requires an action can take need + -ing with a passive sense: the lawn needs mowing (= needs to be mown), your shoes need cleaning. It is neat, idiomatic and very common.
Expert Traps & Hacks
Level 4 The traps that quietly cost you marks. These are the exact slips examiners plant in SSC, Bank, CBSE and IELTS papers — learn to smell them before you read the options.
that is banned. Mrs Whitmore, that taught us Latin, has retired → Mrs Whitmore, who taught us Latin, has retired. Commas call for who or which, never that.-ing costume. I enjoy to swim → I enjoy swimming; She avoided to answer → She avoided answering. And look forward to is a preposition, so it too takes -ing: look forward to meeting you.make and let take a bare verb. He made me to wait → He made me wait; Let me to go → Let me go. (The passive flips it back: I was made to wait.)-ing (stop smoking); when the second is the purpose of the first, use to- (stop to smoke).Try it now — fix five quick slips
Correct each sentence, then say why:
- The candidate that scored highest, got the post.
- Ravi, who I met at the mela was very kind.
- She suggested to book the tickets early.
- The lawn needs to mow before the guests arrive.
- Do you remember to lock the gate last night?
Answers: who and delete the comma (defining); add the missing comma after mela (non-defining); booking; needs mowing; remember locking (a past memory).
Interactive Sandbox — Error Hunter
Each sentence hides a grammar slip: a wrong relative pronoun or the wrong verb costume. Tap the word (or words) that break a rule, then hit Check.