Use relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which and that

Key Notes:

Relative Pronouns

Definition:
Relative pronouns are words that connect a clause or phrase to a noun or pronoun. They help give more information about a person, thing, or animal mentioned in a sentence.

The common relative pronouns are:
who, whom, whose, which, that

WHO

• Refers to people.
• Acts as the subject of a relative clause.

Example:

• The teacher who teaches us English is very kind.
  (“who teaches us English” describes the teacher)

WHOM

• Refers to people.
• Acts as the object of a verb or preposition in the relative clause.

Example:

• The boy whom I met yesterday is my neighbor.
  (“I met” → boy is the object → use whom)

Tip:

• If you can replace the relative pronoun with him/her/them, use whom.

WHOSE

• Shows possession.
• Can refer to people, animals, or things.

Example:

• The girl whose bike was stolen is very sad.
• The company whose products are popular is expanding.

WHICH

• Refers to animals or things.
• Can describe one item or a whole group.

Example:

• I bought a book which has beautiful illustrations.
• The dog which barked all night belongs to my neighbor.

THAT

• Can refer to people, animals, or things.
• Often used in defining relative clauses (essential information).
• Sometimes replaces who or which in informal writing.

Example:

• The movie that we watched yesterday was amazing.
• The man that helped me is a hero.

Tip:

• Do not use commas with “that” in defining clauses.

Quick Table for Easy Reference

Relative Pronoun	Refers To	Role	Example
Who	People	Subject	The man who called is my uncle.
Whom	People	Object	The student whom you praised is clever.
Whose	People/Things	Possession	I met a girl whose dog is cute.
Which	Things/Animals	Subject/Object	I read a book which is interesting.
That	People/Things	Subject/Object (Defining)	The car that I bought is red.

Tips for Using Relative Pronouns Correctly

1. Who → always subject (person).
2. Whom → object (person), often after prepositions.
3. Whose → possession, can refer to people/things.
4. Which → non-human subjects/objects.
5. That → defining clauses, informal alternative for who/which.

Fun Practice Challenge

Fill in the blanks with who, whom, whose, which, or that:

1. The man _______ sold me the car is my uncle.
2. I have a friend _______ father is a doctor.
3. The book _______ is on the table belongs to Sarah.
4. She is the teacher _______ I respect the most.
5. The dog _______ barked all night kept us awake.