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).**

EnglishClub TIP

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 notes

S=subject, O=object, P=possessive

defining relative S - The person w ho phoned me last night is my "that" is preferable

clauses teacher.
- The person that phoned me last night is my
teacher.

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 example sentences notes
S=subject, O=object, P=possessive

- The car w hich hit me w as yellow. "that" is preferable

- The car that hit me w as yellow.

O - The person w hom I phoned last night is my "w hom" is correct but formal
teacher.
- The people w ho I phoned last night are my relative pronoun is optional
teachers.
- The person that I phoned last night is my
teacher.
- The person I phoned last night is my teacher.

- The car w hich I drive is old. "that" is preferable to "w hich"

- The car that I drive is old.
- The car I drive is old. relative pronoun is optional

P - The student w hose phone just rang should

stand up.
- Students w hose parents are w ealthy pay
extra.

- The police are looking for the car w hose "w hose" can be used w ith things
driver w as masked.
- The police are looking for the car of w hich the "of w hich" is also possible
driver w as masked.

non-defining S - Mrs Pratt, w ho is very kind, is my teacher.

relative clauses
- The car, w hich w as a taxi, exploded.
- The cars, w hich w ere taxis, exploded.

O - Mrs Pratt, w hom I like very much, is my "w hom" is correct but formal
teacher.
- Mrs Pratt, w ho I like very much, is my teacher. "w ho" is common in spoken
English and informal w ritten

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 example sentences notes
S=subject, O=object, P=possessive

English

- The car, w hich I w as driving at the time,

suddenly caught fire.

P - My brother, w hose phone you just heard, is a

doctor.

- The car, w hose driver jumped out just before "w hose" can be used w ith things
the accident, w as completely destroyed.
- The car, the driver of w hich jumped out just "of w hich" is also possible
before the accident, w as completely destroyed.

*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

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

whom
which
that

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

that
which
whose

Correct answers:
1. that
2. which
3. which

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