Relative Pronouns
Adjectives such as tall, new, and great are often used to describe
or modify the following noun. For instance: a tall girl, a new
watch, a great job. Similarly, clauses can also function as
adjectives, serving to modify nouns. These are referred to as
"adjective clauses." Given that adjective clauses tend to be quite
long, they are typically placed after the noun they modify. Here are
a few examples:
She needs a job.
A job can afford her rent.
We can rewrite these two sentences into one sentence using the
adjective clause:
She needs a job which can afford her rent.
Antecedent: job
Relative pronoun: which
Adjective clause: which can afford her rent
In the above sentence,
which is the "relative
pronoun", and the noun before the relative pronoun is called
"antecedent". The leading clause is called the "adjective clause" or
"relative clause".
In our example, the adjective clause is
which can afford her rent, which is used to describe the antecedent “job,
The relative pronoun “which”
is used to refer to “job,” and is the subject in this adjective clause.
It is important to note that a "relative pronoun" can be either a
"subject" or an "object" in an adjective clause. Let's look at an
example of a "relative pronoun" acting as an "object" in an
adjective clause:
That is the mountain.
We are going to climb that mountain.
We can use the adjective clause to combine these two sentences into
one sentence:
That is the mountain
which we are going to climb.
In this example, “which”
is a relative pronoun, referring to the antecedent “mountain”, and the adjective clause is used as the object of the entire
sentence to describe the nature of the antecedent “mountain”, indicating that this mountain is the one we are going to
climb.
Next, we will show you the five relative pronouns in English: who,
whom, whose, which, that.
▶️ The relative pronouns “who” and “whom” are used to refer to
people
If the "person" to be replaced is the "subject" in the relative
clause, we use “who”. For example:
People who abide by
traffic rules don’t run the red light.
I like to work with someone
who is responsible and
hard-working.
If the "person" to be replaced is the "object" in the relative
clause, we use “whom”. For example:
I don’t know the actor
whom Elaine is talking
about.
Michael is the guy whom I often hang out
with.
He is the man whom I spoke to
yesterday.
▶️ The relative pronoun “which” is used to refer to "animals or
things"
Here are example sentences where “which” acts as the subject in
relative clauses:
I didn’t see the report
which was handed out this
morning.
Did you sign the package
which arrived this
morning?
Many cities which have
hosted the Olympics in the past have ended up running up huge debts.
Here are example sentences where “which” acts as the object in
relative clauses:
The latest Marvel movie
which I have been waiting
for will be in theaters next week.
Did you get the email which Owen sent to us
yesterday?
The restaurant which we often go to is
across the street.
Did you watch the TV series
which I
recommended?
▶️ The relative pronoun “that” is used to refer to "people,
animals, or things"
He is the kind of person
that doesn't like to
follow traffic rules.
I don’t know the actor
that Elaine is talking
about.
I didn’t see the report
that was handed out
this morning.
The restaurant
that we often go to is
across the street.
Did you watch the TV series
that I
recommended?
▶️ The possessive relative pronoun “whose” is used to replace
possessives such as “his”, “her”, “its”, "their", "my", "our",
"their", "these", or "those"
I am going to have an interview with a company
whose logo has a
kangaroo.
The man whose father is
super rich was
arrested for drunk driving yesterday night.
He is marrying a girl
whose family doesn’t
seem to like him.
I have a friend
whose birthday is next
Tuesday.
TOEIC Example: It is necessary for job candidates ______ are
currently employed to write down their date of availability on the
application form.
(A) who
(B) what
(C) whose
(D) which
The correct answer is (A) who.In this sentence, "who" is used as
a relative pronoun to introduce a relative clause. This clause
"who are currently employed" gives additional information about
the "job candidates".(B) "What" as a relative adverb is used to
refer to things, not people. Therefore, it is not correct in this
context.(C) "Whose" is a possessive form of "who" used to indicate
ownership or association. In this sentence, there is no possession
or association being referred to, so "whose" is incorrect.(D)
"Which" as a relative pronoun is used to refer to things or
animals, not people. Therefore, it is not correct in this context.
TOEIC Example: Many students from medical schools want to be a
doctor ______ annual income is higher than that of a nurse.
(A) who
(B) which
(C) that
(D) whose
The correct answer is (D) whose."Whose" is a possessive pronoun
used to indicate ownership or relationship. In this sentence, it
is used to denote the relationship between the doctor and his or
her annual income. Hence, the sentence means the students want to
be a doctor and the doctor's annual income is higher than that of
a nurse.(A) "Who" is a relative pronoun used to refer to people.
However, it cannot show possession, hence it is wrong in this
context.(B) "Which" is a relative pronoun used to refer to things
or animals. It cannot show possession or refer to people, hence it
is wrong in this context.(C) "That" is a relative pronoun used to
refer to things or people only in restrictive relative clauses. It
also cannot show possession, hence it is wrong in this context.