Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns, as their name suggests, show
relation of a noun or a pronoun preceding them with
the rest of the sentence. They relate a noun or a
pronoun with a piece of extra or essential information
with the help of relative clauses.
Words like who, whom, which, that, whose are some
common relative pronouns. Other relative pronouns
are when, where, whoever, whatever, whenever,
wherever, and whichever.
Relative Clause: A clause that gives some essential or
extra information about a noun or pronoun and has a
relative pronoun is known as a relative clause. It acts
as an adjective.
A transitive verb is a verb that takes an object / that acts
on something or someone.
She wrote a letter. [wrote…transitive verb / letter...object]
He ate an apple. [ate...transitive verb / apple…..object]
In contrast, intransitive do not take objects
She laughed. They arrived.
Note: some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive
He runs. He runs a business.
PRONOUN USAGE EXAMPLE
Which Refers to things My bike, which I’ve owned for 3 years, needs some
maintenance
That Refers to things The last bike that I owned wasn’t very resilient.
Who Refers to people The man who lives next door to me is called Jamil
whom Refers to people I don’t know the names of my other neighbors, whom
I’ve never met.
Examples of Relative Pronouns
( The relative pronoun is bold.
The adjective clause is underlined.)
"That"
1. The dog that stole the pie is back.
"Which"
2. My new dog, which I bought last year, loves green beans.
"Who"
3. We saw the man who was missing from last two years
The man, who was missing from last two years, was seen
by our neighbors today.
"Whom"
4. Our lawyer, whom we employed for over a year, was
related to the complainant.
"Whose"
5. The young girl whose cat scratched our sofa has offered
to replace the cushions.
Relative Pronouns Exercises
Complete the following exercises and check your answers to see if you
used the relative pronouns correctly.
Exercise 1 – Fill in the blanks
Read the given sentences and use the right relative pronouns.
1. We always like people ___________ speak the truth.
2. Can you tell ______________ pen this is?
3. This is Natasha _______________ I was praising.
4. The boy ___________ I met in Delhi stays near our house.
5. This is the house in __________________ John Keats lived.
6. These are the saplings ___________ my mother and I planted
together.
7. The teacher punished the students _____________ were shouting.
8. I don’t think there’s anyone ________________ doesn’t like
chocolates.
9. Are these the people about _______________ you were talking?
10. The car _________________ my uncle brought is quite
expensive.
11. Do you know ____________ car is parked in front of our
gate?
12. I found the documents _____________ I had been looking
for.