Relative pronouns
- General information
- Subject pronouns
- Object pronouns
- Possession ("whose")
- As prepositional objects
- Time
- Space
- Related topics
General information
Relative pronouns are used to join two sentences. For example, the following two sentences,
- I found an apartment. This apartment has three rooms.
may be joined using a relative pronoun:
- I found an apartment which has three rooms.
Relative pronouns have many different forms: who, whom, whose, that, which, that which, what. The pronoun is selected based on the following criteria:
1. What is the grammatical function of the pronoun? Is it a subject, a direct object, or a prepositional object?
2. Does the pronoun refer to a person or a thing (or a situation)?
3. Does the pronoun have an antecedent, or does it represent an unknown entity?
4. Does it represent a special case (possession, time, or space)?
According to the role it plays, the pronoun will take one of the following forms:
Subjects
The pronoun "who" expresses a grammatical subject when this subject is a person; "that" or "which" are used (indifferently by most speakers) to represent subjects which are things, events, situations, etc.
- There's the man who stole my wallet!
- I read a novel that entertained me a great deal.
- He made a mistake which embarrassed him.
When the antecedent is vague or totally absent, one uses "what" or (less commonly) "that which":
- What interests me in this film is the music.
- That which eludes us intrigues us the most.
- I don't know what happened.
Objects
The pronoun "whom" (in spoken language one often hears "who") expresses a grammatical object when this object is a person; "that" or "which" are used (indifferently by most speakers) to represent objects which are things, events, situations, etc.
- She is a person whom I respect a great deal.
- He ordered a beverage which he didn't drink.
- She is talking about the trip that we're going to take.
Note: Use of the relative pronoun is optional (except in the case of "what" or "that which" when referring to specific antecedents); the same sentences as above may be written correctly without the pronoun:
- She is a person I respect a great deal.
- He ordered a beverage he didn't drink.
- She is talking about the trip we're going to take.
When the antecedent is vague or absent, on uses "what" or (less often) "that which":
- You can do what you want.
- What they are doing seems useful.
Possession: "whose" / "of which"
The pronoun "whose" expresses possession when the subject is a person; it will often be replaced by " of which" if it refers to an object, an event, etc.:
- The tourist whose ticket had expired filed a complaint.
- There is the man whose mother is our mayor.
- That was a good article, the point of which was to make us think.
Prepositional objects
The preposition generally precedes the appropriate pronoun:
- Here's the pattern with which I made this shirt.
- The woman for whom I work is quite strict.
- Here's the tree next to which Newton was sitting.
- They went out for dinner, after which they went home.
- Here's the pattern which I made this shirt with.
- The woman whom I work for is quite strict.
- Here's the tree which Newton was sitting next to.
- Tell me what you're thinking about.
In spoken English, one often places the preposition at the end of the clause. Moreover, with the pronoun " what" this structure is required, even in written English:
Time
The pronoun "when" is used with nouns indicating time. However, it is rarely necessary to include this pronoun, and it is often omitted:
- I remember the day when we met.
- I remember the day we met.
- He arrived at the moment when we were speaking of him.
- He arrived at the moment we were speaking of him.
Space
When more specific prepositions (such as "on," "under,", etc.) are not necessary, the general pronoun "where" will suffice:
- Here's the house where my parents were born.
- She doesn't know where she's going.