Relative clauses

Relative clauses

Basic relative pronouns

The relative pronoun you use depends on the thing you're talking about. Generally speaking, the most basic ones are these:

Who which and that cannot be used indiscriminately. That can only be used in defining relative clauses.

Four relative pronouns often seem to confuse people, but they're easy to use too.

WHICH

This can be used to refer to the whole part of the sentence that went before. Usually a pronoun refers to a noun, but this refers to more. For example:

I've broken my leg, which means I can't walk. I've still got some money left, which is surprising.

WHOM

This is hardly ever used in spoken English, and not often in written English. It sounds very formal to most people. If you're going to use it at all, then only use it after prepositions. Even so, there's usually another less formal way to say the same thing. For example:

The woman to whom he was talking is his sister. The woman that he was talking to is his sister.

WHOSE

This is used to show possession. It means basically 'of who(m)'. It can always be used for people and animals, but also for things, though this sometimes sounds strange and it might be better to change the structure of the sentence unless the thing is made up of people (a team, a city, an organisation). For example:

My students, whose homework is never done, will fail the exam. The homework belongs to the students, it's theirs, so possessive.

That dog whose bone you took is going to bite your leg off. It is - or was - the dog's bone.

The city, whose football team lost the final, never wins anything. The city's made up of people, so it sounds OK.

WHAT

This can be literally translated to mean 'the thing that' or 'that which'. It is not used anywhere near as often as 'which' or 'that' and is not used in the same way. For example:

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. I didn't know what he was going to do next

Non-defining relative clauses

These are the ones that give extra information. They are always written between commas. If you leave out the relative clause between the commas it still makes sense. For example:

Valencia, which is Spain's third largest city, is on the Mediterranean coast. We all know Valencia, so this is extra information not needed for understanding.

My parents, who are retired, come to Spain every year. I've only got one set of parents.

I used to live in London, where I was born and went to school

Defining relative clauses

These are the ones that give you the information you need to understand the sentence. There are no commas. If you take the relative clause away, the sentence doesn't make sense. For example:

The team that wins will receive a cup and 1,000 €. What team?

The man who lives next door is always making a noise. What man?

Has he told you what he's going to do? Has he told me what?

Subject and object pronouns

The use of who/which/that may depend on whether the pronoun is the subject or the object of the sentence. For example:

The man who spoke to me told me the story of his life. He spoke to me, so 'who' is the subject and 'me' is the object.

The man that I spoke to told me the story of his life. I spoke to him, so 'I' is the subject and 'that' is the object.

When the pronoun is the object it can be left out:

The man I spoke to told me the story of his life.

Relative Pronouns Used As The Subject of Defining Relative Clauses

Example: Children who (that) play with fire are in great danger of harm.
The man who bought all the books by Hemingway has died.

Generally, who and which are more usual in written English whereas that is more usual in speech when referring to things.

Relative Pronouns Used As The Object of Defining Relative Clauses

Example: That's the boy (Ų , that, who, whom) I invited to the party.
There's the house (Ų, that, which) I'd like to buy.

Relative Pronouns Used As A Possessive In A Defining Relative Clauses

Example: He's the man whose car was stolen last week.
They were sure to visit the town whose location (OR the location of which) was little known.

NOTE: It is preferable to use that (not which) after the following words: all, any(thing), every (thing), few, little, many, much, no(thing), none, some(thing), and after superlatives. When using the pronoun to refer to the object, that can be omitted.

Example: It was everything (that) he had ever wanted.
There were only a few (that) really interested him.

Relative Pronouns in Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Relative Pronouns Used As The Subject of Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Example: Frank Zappa, who was one of the most creative artists in rock 'n roll, came from California.
Olympia, whose name is taken from the Greek, is the capitol of Washington State.

Relative Pronouns Used As The Object of Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Example: Frank invited Janet, who (whom) he had met in Japan, to the party.
Peter brought his favorite antique book, which he had found at a flee market, to show his friends.

NOTE That can never be used in non-defining clauses.

Relative Pronouns Used As A Possessive In Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Example: The singer, whose most recent recording has had much success, signing autographs.
The artist, whose name he could not remember, was one of the best he had ever seen.

NOTES

In non-defining relative clauses, which can be used to refer to an entire clause.

Example: He came for the weekend wearing only some shorts and a t-shirt, which was a stupid thing to do.

After numbers and words like many, most, neither, and some, we use of before whom and which in non-defining relative clauses. Example: Many of those people, most of whom enjoyed their experience, spent at least a year abroad. Dozens of people had been invited, most of whom I knew.