Reduced relative clauses

Reduce defining relative clauses with participles, infinitives and prepositional phrases where the meaning remains clear.

When do we use it?

Choose active -ing, passive participle or infinitive reductions appropriately.

Form

Use -ing for active meaning, a past participle for passive meaning and to-infinitive after ordinals or superlatives.

• People living nearby complained.
• The data collected yesterday is incomplete.
• She was the first to respond.

Key contrast

At C1, grammar choices shape emphasis, stance, information flow and register as well as basic correctness.

Common mistakes

• The people lived nearby complained. → The people living nearby complained.
• The report writing yesterday. → The report written yesterday.

Remember

Reduce defining relative clauses with participles, infinitives and prepositional phrases where the meaning remains clear.

Quick check

• Identify the focus, stance or relationship between clauses.
• Check inversion, complementation and reference carefully.
• Prefer the option that is both grammatical and appropriate for the register.