Relative Pronouns

What is Relative Pronoun?

The relative pronoun stands in place of a noun.

This noun usually appears earlier in the sentence:

The woman

who/that

spoke at the meeting

was very knowledgeable.

Noun, subject of
main clause

relative pronoun referring to 'the woman', subject of 'spoke'

verb + rest of relative clause

verb + rest of main clause
  1. Who, whom and which can be replaced by that. This is very common in spoken English.
  2. The relative pronoun can be omitted when it is the object of the clause

The woman

that

the man loved

was living in New York.

Noun, subject of main clause

relative pronoun, referring to 'the woman', object of 'loved'

verb + rest of relative clause

verb + rest of main clause.

(You can usually decide whether a relative pronoun is an object because it is normally followed by another subject + verb.)

 

Subject pronoun or object pronoun?

If the relative pronoun is not followed by a noun or pronoun, it is a subject pronoun. Subject relative pronouns can never be omitted (dropped.)

Example

  • The apple which is lying on the table is sweet. (Subject)
  • The teacher who lives next door is nice. (Subject)

If the relative pronoun is followed by a noun or pronoun, the relative pronoun is an object pronoun. Object relative pronouns can be omitted (dropped) in restrictive (defining) relative clauses.

Example

  • The film (which) we watched yesterday was fantastic. (object)
  • The writer (who/whom) we met last weekend is very famous. (object)
  • Has anyone seen the book (that) I was reading?

How to Use Relative Pronouns

1. who - subject or object pronoun for people.
We use it to introduce defining and non-defining relative clauses:

  • I know a woman. She speaks 6 languages. = I know a woman who speaks 6 languages. (Subject)
  • They caught the lady who killed her baby. (Subject)
  • A clown is someone who makes you laugh. (Subject)
  • The woman who I saw yesterday was Sheila. (who refers to the woman and is the object of saw in the relative clause) (object)

Who can act as the subject or the object of the relative clause. You can see it in the examples above.

2. which - subject or object pronoun refer to animals and to things.

  • I live in a house.  It is 200 years old. = I live in a house which/that is 200 years old.
  • I read the book which is on the table.
  • I visited the town which you told me about.

Which can  use to refer to a whole sentence

  • She had to get up and walk all the way to the other side of the room, which isn’t easy with a bad back. (which refers to the whole sentence before it)
  • They were unsuccessful which is disappointing.

3. whom - used for object pronoun for people, especially in non-restrictive relative clauses (in restrictive relative clauses use who)
Whom is very formal and is only used in written English. You can use who/that, or omit the pronoun completely :

  • I spoke to a person yesterday. = The person to whom I spoke yesterday.(formal) = The person (who) I spoke to yesterday. (informal)
  • The boy whom you told me about got the best grades in mathematics.
  • The doctor whom/who/that/ I was hoping to see wasn't on duty.

When who is the object, whom with a preposition can be used instead, but it is formal and rather old-fashioned. In modern speech, we use who, or we leave out the pronoun.

  • The person to whom you are referring no longer works here. = The person (who) you are you referring to no longer works here.
  • She smiled as she remembered the quiet scholar with whom she had shared a love of books. = She smiled as she remembered the quiet scholar who she had shared a love of books with.
  • Drama in schools is particularly good for pupils for whom English is a second language.

4. That - subject or object pronoun for people, animals, things or idea in restrictive relative clauses (who or which are also possible).
That normally follows words like something, anything, everything, nothing, all, and superlatives.

  • I live in a house.  It is 200 years old. = I live in a house that is 200 years old.
  • That's the hotel. We stayed there last year. That's the hotel that we stayed in  last year.
  • Nothing that anyone does can replace my lost bag.
  • I like the vase that is over there.
  • I'm talking about the person that I saw yesterday.
  • This is the style that I want to use.
  • There's something that you should know.
  • It was the best film that I've ever seen.
  • An elephant is an animal that lives in hot countries.
  • The plums that were in the fridge were delicious. I have eaten them.
  • Where are the plums (that) I put in the fridge?

Please read "When to Use THAT in Relative Clause" lesson in this section for more information.

5. Whose is a possessive pronoun used to refer to ownership. Whose is used for animals as well as for people. In more formal styles we can also use it for things.

Examples

  • I know a woman.  Her husband speaks 6 languages. = I know a woman whose husband speaks 6 languages.
  • The man whose car was stolen.
  • A tree whose leaves have fallen.
  • They live in the house whose roof is full of holes

 We use whose before nouns instead of a possessive expression (my, your, his, her, its, our, their, x’s) in defining and non-defining clauses:

  • He’s marrying a girl whose family don’t seem to like him. (The family of the girl he’s marrying don’t seem to like him.)
  • There was me and there was Kate, whose party it was, and then there were two other people. (It was Kate’s party.)
  • It is a rambling Tudor house, whose sitting room looks out over a wonderful walled garden. (The sitting room of the house looks out over …)

6. when, where and why

In informal language, we often use where, when or why to introduce defining relative clauses instead of at which, on which or for which.


6.1 Where (relative adverb) refers to places and locations

  • That's the hotel. We stayed there last year. = That's the hotel where we stayed last year.
  • That's where I spent my childhood. 
  • Let's go to a country where the sun always shines.

6.2 When refers to times

  • There isn’t a day when I don’t feel rushed off my feet. (… a day on which I don’t feel rushed …)

6.3 Why refers to reasons

  • Do you know the reason why the shop is closed today? (… the reason for which the shop is closed …)
For more detail, please see "Relative Adverbs" lesson.