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.
- who
- what
- whose
- which
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