Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses

Subject

Who

Which

That

Object

Who/m

Which

That

Possessive

Whose

We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses.

Relative clauses tell us more about people and things

➧ Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.

➧ This is the house which Jack built.

➧ Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.

➧ Who | Whom for people

➧ Which for things

➧ That for people or things.

There are two kinds of relative clause

1. We use relative clauses to make clear which person or thing we are talking about

➧ Marie Curie is the woman who discovered radium.

➧ This is the house which Jack built.

In this kind of relative clause, we can use that instead of who or which

➧ Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.

➧ This is the house that Jack built.

We can leave out the pronoun if it is the object of the relative clause

➧ This is the house Jack built. ✓

➧ This is the house that Jack built. ✗

➧ that is the object of built

The relative pronoun is the subject/object of the relative clause, so we do not repeat the subject/object

➧ Marie Curie is the woman who she discovered radium. ✗

➧ who is the subject of discovered, so we don't need she.

➧ This is the house that Jack built it.

➧ that is the object of built, so we don't need it.

2. We also use relative clauses to give more information about a person, thing or situation

With this kind of relative clause, we use commas , to separate it from the rest of the sentence.

➧ Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.

➧ We had fish and chips, which I always enjoy.

➧ I met Rebecca in town yesterday, which was a nice surprise.

In this kind of relative clause, we cannot use that

➧ Thompson, who is 76, has just retired. ✓

➧ Thompson, that is 76, has just retired. ✗

and we cannot leave out the pronoun

➧ We had fish and chips, which I always enjoy. ✓

➧ We had fish and chips, I always enjoy. ✗

We use whose as the possessive form of who

➧ This is George, whose brother went to school with me.

We sometimes use whom as the object of a verb or preposition

➧ This is George, whom you met at our house last year.

➧ whom is the object of met.

➧ This is George’s brother, with whom I went to school.

➧ whom is the object of with.

but nowadays we normally use who

➧ This is George, who you met at our house last year.

➧ This is George’s brother, who I went to school with.

Relative pronouns with prepositions

When who/m or which have a preposition, the preposition can come at the beginning of the clause

➧ I had an uncle in Germany, from who/m I inherited a bit of money.

➧ We bought a chainsaw, with which we cut up all the wood.

Or at the end of the clause

➧ I had an uncle in Germany, who/m I inherited a bit of money from.

➧ We bought a chainsaw, which we cut all the wood up with.

But when that has a preposition, the preposition always comes at the end

➧ I didn't know the uncle that I inherited the money from.

➧ We can't find the chainsaw that we cut all the wood up with.

We can use when with times and where with places to make it clear which time or place we are talking about

➧ England won the World Cup in 1966. It was the year when we got married.

➧ I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day when the tsunami happened.

➧ Do you remember the place where we caught the train?

➧ Stratford-upon-Avon is the town where Shakespeare was born.

We can leave out when

➧ England won the World Cup in 1966. It was the year we got married.

➧ I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day the tsunami happened.

all of which/whom

lots of which/whom

one of which/whom

most of which/whom

a few of which/whom

two of which/whom

many of which/whom

none of which/whom

etc.

➧ She has three brothers, two of whom are in the army.

➧ I read three books last week, one of which I really enjoyed.

➧ There were some good programmes on the radio, none of which I listened to.

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are words that introduce relative clauses.

They relate or link the clause they introduce to the noun or pronoun that precedes it.

Common relative pronouns include

who | whom | whose | which | that.

Here's a breakdown of each relative pronoun and its usage

Who | Refers to people and sometimes animals with names.

➧ The woman who lives next door is a doctor.

Whom | Refers to people and is used as the object of a verb or preposition.

➧ The person whom I met yesterday is my new colleague.

Whose | Shows possession and is used for both people and things.

➧ The book whose cover is torn belongs to me.

Which | Refers to things or animals without names.
➧ The car which is parked outside is mine.

That | Can refer to both people and things, and it's often used in restrictive clauses (clauses necessary for the sentence's meaning).

➧ The laptop that I bought yesterday is already malfunctioning.

Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are clauses that provide additional information about a noun or pronoun in the main clause.

They begin with relative pronouns and function as adjectives, modifying the noun or pronoun they follow.

Relative clauses can be either restrictive or non-restrictive

Restrictive Defining Relative Clauses

These clauses provide essential information about the noun or pronoun, without which the meaning of the sentence would change.

They are not set off by commas.

➧ The house that Jack built is now a museum.

Non-Restrictive Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Refers to people and is used as the object of a verb or preposition.

These clauses provide extra information about the noun or pronoun, but this information is not essential for identifying the noun or pronoun.

They are set off by commas.

In summary, relative pronouns introduce relative clauses, which provide additional information about a noun or pronoun in the main clause. They help to connect ideas and add detail to sentences.

More Lessons ➧ Here

About Blossomings

Blossomings is an educational platform dedicated to providing high-quality learning materials, worksheets, and structured lessons for learners worldwide.
Our goal is to make learning simple, engaging, and accessible for everyone.