Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause. It is
called a "relative" pronoun because it "relates" to the word that it
modifies. Here is an example:
The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.
In the above example, "who":
•relates to "person", which it modifies
•introduces the relative clause "who phoned me last night“
There are five basic relative
pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that*
Who (subject) and whom (object) are generally only for
people. Whose is for possession. Which is for things. In nondefining relative clauses, that can’t be used. In defining relative
clauses (clauses that are essential to the sentence and do not simply
add extra information) that can be used for things and people**.
Relative pronouns can refer to singular or plural, and there is no
difference between male and female.
Look at these examples showing defining and non-defining relative clauses:
example sentences
S=subject, O=object, P=possessive
defining
relative
clauses
subject
defining
relative
clauses
object
notes
- The person who phoned me last night is
my teacher.
- The person that phoned me last night is
my teacher.
That is preferable
- - The car which hit me was yellow.
- - The car that hit me was yellow.
- The person whom I phoned last night is
my teacher.
- The people who I phoned last night are
my teachers.
- The person that I phoned last night is my
teacher.
- The person I phoned last night is my
teacher.
Whom is correct but
formal. The relative
pronoun is optional.
- The car which I drive is old.
- The car that I drive is old.
- The car I drive is old.
That is preferable to
which. The relative
pronoun is optional.
defining
relative
clauses
Possessive
example sentences
S=subject, O=object,
P=possessive
notes
- The dog is over there. The dog's
/ its owner lives next door.
- → The dog whose owner lives
next door is over there.
'Whose' is always the
subject of the
relative clause and
can't be left out. It
replaces a
possessive. It can be
used for people and
things.
- The little girl is sad. The little
girl's / her doll was lost.
- → The little girl whose doll
was lost is sad.
Possessive
The police are looking for the
car whose driver was masked.
- The police are looking for the
car of which the driver was
masked.
Whose can be used
with things. Of which
is also possible.
nondefining
relative
clauses
example sentences
S=subject, O=object, P=possessive
notes
Subject
- Mrs Pratt, who is very kind, is
my teacher.
- - The car, which was a taxi,
exploded.
- - The cars, which were taxis,
exploded.
We don't use 'that' in
non-defining relative
clauses.
Object
- Mrs Pratt, whom I like very much,
is my teacher.
- Mrs Pratt, who I like very much,
is my teacher.
Whom is correct but
formal. Who is
common in spoken
English and informal
written English.
- - The car, which I was driving at
the time, suddenly caught fire.
Possessive
- My brother, whose phone you
just heard, is a doctor.
- - The car, whose driver jumped
out just before the accident,
was completely destroyed.
1.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
n)
o)
Complete the sentences with relative pronouns.
Christopher Columbus was the sailor who / that discovered America.
This food has an ingredient ________ is very sweet.
The lady _________ son plays football with me is the headmaster of my school.
The house in _________ I was born is now for sale.
Keith, _________ is married to Melanie, was born in Málaga.
D. H. Lawrence, _________ was an English author, wrote many interesting
novels.
London, ___________ is on the river Thames, is the capital of the United
Kingdom.
The Prado Museum, ___________ is in Madrid, is one of the best art galleries in
the world.
She is the director __________ first film won a Goya.
I like books ____________ have romance and adventure.
The people with ____________ you came back are old friends of mine.
I like perfume ____________ smells nice.
Last night I went to see a film _________ my teacher told me about. It was
terrible!
Fina, ___________ I met on holiday last summer, is also coming to the party.
Tim is the person _______________ owns the restaurant where we ate last
night.
2. In which of these sentences can we remove the relative
pronoun and still have a correct sentence?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Is that the man that we met at the party last night?
I’ve never been to the town where my parents were born.
Donald, who was born in Ireland, is my brother-in-law.
I can’t find the pen that you lent me yesterday.
The fish that we had for dinner wasn’t fresh.
Seville, which is in the south of Spain, can be very hot in
the summer.
g) I’ve just seen a great film which is set in Ireland in the
1900s.
h) That’s the woman whose daughter goes to school with my
son.
i) The day that I met my husband was cold and rainy.
3. Rewrite these sentences omitting the relative pronoun. Other changes
are necessary.
a)
This is the box in which I had put my English books.
This is the box I had put my English books in.
b) The man with whom she had lunch yesterday is her boss.
c)
The knife with which you are cutting the meat belonged to my great
grandmother.
d)
The company for which he works has gone bankrupt.
e) We didn’t recognise the people at whom we were looking.
4. Join each pair of sentences withh a defining relative
clause. Omit the relative pronouns wherever possible.
a) Last night we met a man. He’s a millionaire.
Last night we met a man who/that is a millionaire.
b) Yesterday we found a wallet. It was empty.
c) We like cereals. Well, if they are wholemeal.
d) Michaelangelo was a famous artist. He painted the
Sistine Chapel.
e) She’s bought a CD. It is broken.
e) I had won some money. I spent it on a new bike.
1.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
n)
o)
Complete the sentences with relative pronouns.
Christopher Columbus was the sailor who / that discovered America.
This food has ann ingredient which / that is very sweet.
The lady whose son plays football with me is the headmaster of my school.
The house in which I was born is now for sale.
Keith, who is married to Melanie, was born in Málaga.
D. H. Lawrence, who was an English author, wrote many interesting novels.
London, which is on the river Thames, is the capital of the United Kingdom.
The Prado Museum, which is in Madrid, is one of the best art galleries in the
world.
She is the director whose first film won a Goya.
I like books which / that have romance and adventure.
The people with whom you came back are old friends of mine.
I like perfume which / that smells nice.
Last night I went to see a film which / that my teacher told me about. It was
terrible!
Fina, who / whom I met on holiday last summer, is also coming to the party.
Tim is the person who / that owns the restaurant where we ate last night.
2. In which of these sentences can we remove the relative
pronoun and still have a correct sentence?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Is that the man that we met at the party last night? Yes.
I’ve never been to the town where my parents were born.
Donald, who was born in Ireland, is my brother-in-law.
I can’t find the pen that you lent me yesterday. Yes.
The fish that we had for dinner wasn’t fresh. Yes
Seville, which is in the south of Spain, can be very hot in
the summer.
g) I’ve just seen a great film which is set in Ireland in the
1900s.
h) That’s the woman whose daughter goes to school with my
son.
i) The day that I met my husband was cold and rainy. Yes
3. Rewrite these sentences omitting the relative pronoun. Other changes
are necessary.
a)
This is the box in which I had put my English books.
This is the box I had put my English books in.
b) The man with whom she had lunch yesterday is her boss.
The man she had luch with yesterday is her boss.
c)
The knife with which you are cutting the meat belonged to my great
grandmother.
The knife you are cutting the meat with belonged to my great
grandmother.
d)
The company for which he works has gone bankrupt.
The company he works for has gone bankrupt.
e)
We didn’t recognise the people at whom we were looking.
We didn’t recognise the people we were looking at.
4. Join each pair of sentences withh a defining relative clause.
Omit the relative pronouns wherever possible.
a) Last night we met a man. He’s a millionaire.
Last night we met a man who/that is a millionaire.
b) Yesterday we found a wallet. It was empty.
Yesterday we found a wallet which / that was empty.
c) We like cereals. Well, if they are wholemeal.
We like cereal which / that are wholemeal.
d) Michaelangelo was a famous artist. He painted the Sistine
Chapel.
Michaelangelo was a famous artist who / that painted
the Sistine Chapel.
e) She’s bought a CD. It is broken.
She’s bought a CD which / that is broken.
e) I had won some money. I spent it on a new bike.
I had won some money which / that I spent on a new
bike.