We use relative clauses to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. By combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.

How to Form Relative Clauses

Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. You could say:

A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?

That sounds rather complicated, doesn’t it? It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing  – you want to know who the girl is.

Do you know the girl …

As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information  – the girl is talking to Tom. Use „the girl“ only in the first part of the sentence, in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun „who“). So the final sentence is:

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Relative Pronouns

relative pronoun
use
example

whosubject or object pronoun for peopleI told you about the woman who lives next door.

whichsubject or object pronoun for animals and thingsDo you see the cat which is lying on the roof?

whichreferring to a whole sentenceHe couldn’t read, which surprised me.

whosepossession for people animals and thingsDo you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?

whomobject pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who)I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.

thatsubject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen.

Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun?

Subject and object pronouns cannot be distinguished by their forms – who, which, that are used for subject and object pronouns. You can, however, distinguish them as follows:

If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun. Subject pronouns must always be used.

the apple which is lying on the table

If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is an object pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining relative clauses, which are then called Contact Clauses.

the apple (which) George lay on the table

Relative Adverbs

A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the sentence easier to understand.

This is the shop in which I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.

relative adverb
meaning
use
example

whenin/on whichrefers to a time expressionthe day when we met him

wherein/at whichrefers to a placethe place where we met him

whyfor whichrefers to a reasonthe reason why we met him

Defining Relative Clauses

Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive relative clauses) give detailed information defining a general term or expression. Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.

Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Defining relative clauses are often used in definitions.

A seaman is someone who works on a ship.

Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)

The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.

Non-Defining Relative Clauses

Non-defining relative clauses (also called non-identifying relative clauses or non-restrictive relative clauses) give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.

Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you mean.

Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?

Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.

Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.

Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.

How to Shorten Relative Clauses?

Relative clauses with who, which, that as subject pronoun can be replaced with a participle. This makes the sentence shorter and easier to understand.

I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the woman living next door.

Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on the roof?

Exercises on Relative Clauses

Relative Pronouns and Relative Adverbs

Relative Clauses and Contact Clauses

Tests

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 its relative clause modifies. Here is an example:

• The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.

In the above example, “who”:

• relates to “The person”, which “who phoned me last night” 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. That can be used for things and people only in defining relative clauses (clauses that are essential to the sentence and do not simply add extra information).**

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
notes

defining relative clauses
S
– 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.
“that” is preferable

O
– 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

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”

relative pronoun is optional

P
– The student whose phone just rang should stand up.
– Students whose parents are wealthy pay extra.
 

– 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

non-defining relative clauses
S
– Mrs Pratt, who is very kind, is my teacher.
 

– The car, which was a taxi, exploded.
– The cars, which were taxis, exploded.
 

O
– 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.
 

P
– My brother, whose phone you just heard, is a doctor.
 

– The car, whose driver jumped out just before the accident, was completely destroyed.
– The car, the driver of which jumped out just before the accident, was completely destroyed.
“whose” can be used with things

“of which” is also possible

*Not all grammar sources count “that” as a relative pronoun.
**Some people claim that we should not use “that” for people but must use “who/whom”. There is no good reason for such a claim; there is a long history of “that” for people in defining relative clauses from Chaucer, Shakespeare and the Authorized Version of The Bible to Fowler’s and Churchill.

Mini Quiz

Test your understanding with this quick quiz.

1. Which is correct? “The game _______ we loved the most was soccer.”

who
of which
that

a) who b) of which c) that

2. Which is not correct? “The player _______ I beat is from France.”

whom
which
that

a) whom b) which c) that

3. Which is correct? “The victory, _______ was my first, surprised everyone.”

that

which
whose

a) that b) which c) whose

Your score is:

Correct answers: