Relative and Participle Clauses
About this practice test
Practice B2 English grammar with defining and non-defining relative clauses, reduced participle clauses, and formal relative structures in environmental contexts.
What you’ll practice
Form and structure
Choose accurate forms and word order.
Meaning in context
Use grammar to express precise ideas.
Editing for accuracy
Spot and correct common errors.
What to expect:
5 questions with explanations to review after submission.
Study the questions and tasks
Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.
- Practice level
- B2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.
- Question formats
- Single choice
How to approach this practice
Read the complete sentence and notice the subject, verb form, time reference and word order before answering.
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Question 1 · Single choice
Choose one answer.
The engineer ___ designed the filter won an award.
- who
- which
- whose
- where
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- who
Use who for a defining relative clause referring to a person.
who: Correct: the engineer who designed the filter.
which: Which normally refers to things, not people.
whose: Whose expresses possession and needs a noun after it.
where: Where refers to a place.
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Question 2 · Single choice
Choose one answer.
The river, ___ flows through the city, is being cleaned.
- which
- who
- where
- what
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- which
Use which for a non-defining relative clause referring to a thing.
which: Correct: the river, which flows through the city,...
who: Who refers to people.
where: Where refers to a place as a location, not this relative subject.
what: What cannot introduce this non-defining relative clause.
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Question 3 · Single choice
Choose one answer.
The trees ___ along the road were planted last year.
- growing
- grow
- are grow
- grew
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- growing
The present participle growing reduces the relative clause that are growing.
growing: Correct: the trees growing along the road.
grow: A finite verb would need a relative pronoun or another clause structure.
are grow: This is not a valid verb form.
grew: The past simple does not express the continuing description here.
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Question 4 · Single choice
Choose one answer.
The report ___ by the committee recommends stricter controls.
- published
- publishing
- publish
- was publish
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- published
The past participle published reduces the passive relative clause that was published.
published: Correct: the report published by the committee.
publishing: The report is not carrying out the publishing action.
publish: The base form cannot reduce this passive clause.
was publish: The passive form would need the past participle published.
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Question 5 · Single choice
Choose one answer.
The village in ___ the project began is now carbon neutral.
- which
- that
- who
- what
Check answers and explanations
- Answer
- which
Use which after the preposition in for a formal relative clause referring to a place.
which: Correct: the village in which the project began.
that: That cannot normally follow the preposition in in this formal structure.
who: Who refers to people.
what: What does not introduce this relative clause.
What to review next
After checking an answer, explain the rule in your own words and write a new sentence using the same pattern. Revisit any rules you could not explain.
A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.
Before you practise: a worked example
Add identifying information to a noun.
The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
Who introduces information about a person. Here the relative clause tells us which woman the speaker means.
This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.