What are reduced relative clauses?
Reduced relative clauses compress defining descriptions: -ing marks active meaning, -ed marks passive meaning, and ordinals or superlatives often take a to-infinitive. The reduced phrase follows its noun.
- Active: who delivers becomes delivering.
- Passive: that were submitted becomes submitted.
- Order: the first who responds becomes the first to respond.
C1 · Relative clauses · 11 minReduced relative clauses — compact descriptions with a clear direction.
This C1 lesson shows you how to reduce defining relative clauses with -ing, -ed, or a to-infinitive — free to try, with no signup.
- CEFR levelC1 · Advanced
- Time to completeAbout 11 minutes
- Core ideaActive -ing · passive -ed · order to
- RegisterFormal and news style
01 / 06
What are reduced relative clauses?
Reduced relative clauses are compact descriptions that shorten a defining relative clause directly after its noun. "The supplier who delivers on time" becomes "the supplier delivering on time," while "the figures that were submitted yesterday" becomes "the figures submitted yesterday." Both reductions preserve the central information but remove the relative pronoun and a full verb group. The direction of the action is decisive: the supplier performs the delivery, so delivering is active; someone submits the figures, so submitted is passive. A third form orders people or things: "the first who responds" becomes "the first to respond." These reductions are especially at home in formal writing, reports, and news style because they attach information closely to a noun. Everyday speech often keeps the full relative clause instead. This lesson focuses precisely on these reduced descriptions attached to a noun, not on free participle constructions that add a separate action. Rule: a reduced relative form compresses a defining description directly after its noun.
02 / 06
How do you reduce a relative clause with -ing?
Reduce an active defining relative clause with -ing when the noun performs the action itself. Compare "the supplier who delivers on time" with "the supplier delivering on time." In both versions, the supplier delivers; the reduction replaces the active description who delivers with delivering. The same pattern works in a report with "the team reviewing the data": the team performs the review. Before reducing, check the roles in the sentence as well as the visible form. In "the payment receiving this week," payment incorrectly becomes the active doer. If a person receives the payment, you need the passive form "the payment received this week." The minimal pair "the supplier delivering the goods" and "the goods delivered by the supplier" makes the contrast visible: supplier acts in the first phrase, while goods are affected in the second. The -ing form is therefore not an interchangeable short ending. It preserves the active meaning of the full relative clause. Rule: choose -ing when the noun being described performs the action.
03 / 06
How does an -ed form replace a relative clause?
An -ed form replaces a passive defining relative clause by removing the relative pronoun and be while leaving the passive form after the noun. "The figures that were submitted yesterday" becomes "the figures submitted yesterday." The figures do not submit themselves; someone submitted them. Similarly, "the results achieved this quarter" compresses the longer form "the results that were achieved this quarter." A phrase naming the active source can follow: "the prices confirmed by the supplier." The description remains one unit after prices. Compare active and passive again: "the supplier confirming the prices" presents the supplier as the doer, whereas "the prices confirmed by the supplier" describes the prices. In a report, your intended perspective determines the choice. If you describe a noun that performs the action, -ing fits; if you describe a noun affected by the action, -ed usually fits. Reduction does not change who acts and who is affected. Rule: in the passive, remove the relative pronoun plus be and place the -ed description after the noun.
04 / 06
When do you reduce a relative clause with a to-infinitive?
A to-infinitive often reduces a defining relative clause when an ordinal or superlative marks an order. The core example is "the first who responds," which becomes "the first to respond." In a business process, "Mara was the first to respond" can record compactly who reacted earliest. This form differs from an active -ing reduction: "the supplier delivering on time" describes an action performed by the supplier, whereas "the first to respond" expresses a position in an order. A similar superlative context is "the fastest team to respond." The important point is that an ordinal or superlative prepares the ordering meaning; the infinitive follows that marker. Do not automatically turn every active description into a to-infinitive. "The supplier to deliver on time usually wins" does not carry the same clear message as "the supplier delivering on time usually wins" without an ordering marker. Rule: after an ordinal or superlative, a to-infinitive can compactly order the defining description.
05 / 06
Where does the reduced phrase go in an English sentence?
The reduced description goes after the noun it describes in English. This position is a common source of German transfer because an extended participial group appears before its noun in German, as in die vom Lieferanten bestätigten Preise. A direct transfer such as "the from the supplier confirmed prices" is wrong in English. The natural phrase is "the prices confirmed by the supplier." A time expression also remains after the noun within the description: not "the yesterday submitted figures," but "the figures submitted yesterday." The noun comes first and then opens the compact additional information. Read each unit from left to right: prices — confirmed — by the supplier; figures — submitted — yesterday. Check the direction of the action as well. "The payment receiving this week" follows payment but still reverses active and passive; the correct form is "the payment received this week." Position alone is not enough, but it is the first reliable checkpoint. Rule: name the English noun first and attach the entire reduced description after it.
06 / 06
How do you use reduced relative clauses in formal reports?
In formal reports, use reduced relative clauses to attach precise information compactly to suppliers, figures, results, or contracts. A full sentence such as "The figures that were submitted yesterday contain two errors" is correct and clear. The reduced version "The figures submitted yesterday contain two errors" is tighter and particularly well suited to a compact written report. The same principle can carry a whole news-style line: "The supplier delivering on time usually wins the contract offered this quarter." Delivering actively describes the supplier; offered passively describes the contract. This is a register tendency, not a rigid grammatical obligation. Reduction is especially at home in formal writing and news style, while everyday speech often keeps the full relative clause. Choose according to text type and readability. If several long descriptions make a sentence difficult, the full relative clause can be clearer; if the roles remain obvious, the reduced form compresses the report effectively. Rule: use reductions for compact formal prose, but keep the full relative clause when it makes the message easier to read.