Relative clauses

1 Circle the correct relative pronouns.

1. That’s the boy who / which I met at Jane’s party.

2. The village where / which I used to live is a large town today.
3. These are the books that / where I got from the library.
4. Do you think animals who / that live in zoos are unhappy?
5. That’s the boy which / who / whose rescued my cat.
6. The village whose / that / where my parents were born is a large town today.
7. I’ll never forget the moment which / when / where my house started to shake.
8. I watched a documentary on TV which / whose / who was about natural disasters.

2 Complete the sentences with who, which or where. Then tick ( ) the sentences
where that cannot also be used.

1. Did you watch the DVDs …… ………………. you borrowed from Tony? YES….
2. The woman……….. led the nature tour was very informative. YES
3. The gym ………… …………. I exercise is becoming too crowded. NO
4. This is the shirt …………… ………. Linda gave me. Isn’t it beautiful? YES
5. Yesterday I met someone looks like you. YES

3 Complete the sentences with the correct relative pronoun. Use who, which, whose, where or
when.
1. I read about the time ______the English king Charles I was executed.
2. Edward I was an English king ________wife was a Spanish princess.
3. Camelot was the place _________the legendary King Arthur had his castle.
4. Edward and Richard were two English princes _________disappeared mysteriously.
5. “Prince of Wales” is a title _________is given to the heir to the British throne.

4 Combine the sentences with the relative pronouns in brackets. Make any necessary changes.

1. I’ve got a friend. She went on a safari last year. (who)

.....................................................................................................................................................
2. We took photographs of two squirrels. The squirrels were eating nuts. (which)
3. This is the pet shop. I work here on Saturdays. (where)
4. There was a nature documentary on TV. We watched it. (that)
5. There were eight kings of England. Their name was Henry. (whose)
6. Charles I married a woman. She was born in Portugal. (who)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….……………………..
7. I’ll never forget the day. Prince William married Catherine Middleton then. (when)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….……………………..

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 Relative clauses
8. At coronations, the King or Queen of England wears a crown. It weighs 2.23 kg. (that)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….……………………..

5 Combine the sentences to create non-defining relative clauses.

1. Fortunately, the Lu family didn’t drown in the tsunami. They lived near the sea
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
2. The 2011 earthquake was probably the worst in Japanese history. It measured
8.9 on the Richter scale.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
3. Elizabeth never eats junk food. She didn’t enjoy the meal.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
4. Hiromitsu Shinkawa stayed on the roof of his house for two days after the tsunami.
He was found out at sea.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
5. Dr Morton writes for National Geographic. He studies volcanoes.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
6. Twister was a good film. It was about tornadoes.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
7. On 11th March the earthquake in Japan struck. My parents were in Tokyo at the time.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
8. The book was really interesting. It was written by a woman.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
9. The National Geographic programme was very interesting. It was about dangerous insects.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….……………………..
10.My favourite actress has won an Oscar. She has appeared in many films
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….

6 Give me the number of the sentences of the previous activity in which the relative pronoun can
be omitted.

……………………. ……………………. ……………………. …………………….

7 Complete the text with who, which, when or where.

Pompeii was a big and busy city in the year 79 AD, 1. ……………………. a volcano erupted and
destroyed it. Pompeii was completely covered in ash and was only discovered in the 1700s by
archeologists 2. ……………………. wanted to find out more about the volcano. Before it was destroyed,
Pompeii, 3. ……………………. was located on the Bay of Naples, was a port city. Ships brought items
from all over the world, so it was a place 4. ……………………. people could buy almost anything they
wanted. For this reason, archeologists have found many interesting objects at Pompeii. Today, Pompeii
is a very popular place for tourists. People 5. ……………………. are interested in history and Roman

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 Relative clauses
culture take tours to see the city 6. ……………………. was covered by a volcano so many years ago.

8 Correct the sentences.

1. Sue complained about the shop assistant which was rude to her.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
2. Are these the shoes who you bought yesterday?
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
3. Harry will always remember the day which he first went skydiving.
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
4. Do you want to see a photograph of the hotel when we stayed?
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….

9 Complete the text below using relative pronouns or some-, any- or no- compounds.
One royal story 1. ……………………. has fascinated people for years is the fate of Princess Anastasia
Romanov. Her father, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, lost his throne in 1917. That was the year 2.
……………………. the Bolshevik Revolution started and a year later, the secret police executed the
royal family. Rumours began that Anastasia was still alive because no one knew the location of her
body. In 1922, a young woman 3. ……………………. name was Anna Anderson suddenly came out of
nowhere. She was one of several women 4. ……………………. claimed to be Anastasia. Some people
were sceptical because she didn’t know anything about the royal family’s life. For years, Anna went to
court to try to prove her royal identity, but nothing she did helped. She died in 1984 without succeeding.
In 1994, scientists used DNA 5. ……………………. they took from Romanov’s relatives and proved
that Anna was not Anastasia. In 2007, investigators in Russia found a grave with two skeletons 6.
……………………. scientists identified as Anastasia and her younger brother.

10 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in brackets.
1. At this time next year, I ……………………. (study) music at the Juilliard School.
2. ……………………. Tina ever ……………………. (meet) Mike before last night? Do you think she
……………………. (see) him again?
3. George ……………………. (swim) since 2004. He is ……………………. (fast) swimmer
in the team.

11 Circle the correct answers.

Penny is an intelligent dog. When her owner went on holiday, she 1 was leaving / left / were leaving
the dog with me. I fed Penny and talked to her and she seemed happy – until the day I became ill. I was
so ill that I 2 forgot / have forgotten / has forgotten to feed her. The next day, I couldn’t find her
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anywhere / somewhere / nowhere. Then I saw the children from next door. They 4 played / was
playing / were playing in a field. They said that they 5 will / would / can help me look for the dog.
Later, one of the children said, “I 6 find / have found / has found Penny. She 7 sits / sit / is sitting
outside her house, but she won’t come with me.” When I arrived at her house, Penny 8 was waiting /
waited / were waiting patiently for me. I 9 was apologising / apologised / were apologising and

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 Relative clauses
asked her to come home with me. She got up slowly and followed me home ... my apology 10 is
accepted / was accepted / were accepted!

12 Rewrite the following sentences with the words in brackets. Do not change the meaning of the
original sentence.
1. Charles came to our school in March. (been)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
2. The teacher started teaching the lesson before I came in. (while)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
3. The tourists visited the palace. The King lives there in the winter. (where)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
4. Zoe played tennis last summer. (used)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
5. I talked to the neighbour. His dog makes a lot of noise. (whose)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
6. The apple cake and the cherry cake are tasty. (as)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
7. The department store was full of people. It was having a big sale. (which)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
8. What is the price of this phone? (how)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….
9. It was sunny when we went out. (the sun)
…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….…………………….