We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses in English sentences. There are five relative pronouns in the English language - who, whom, whose, which, and that. We use them to refer to people and animals, as well as things.
Example
Explanation
The Man Who Sold the World is one of the most famous David Bowie's songs.
Who is a relative pronoun.
Here is a short summary of the relative pronouns in the English language, along with their usage:
| Relative Pronoun | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | subject/object (people) | The boy who cried wolf. |
| which | subject/object (not people) | Have you seen a car which is parked on the hill? |
| whose | possession (all) | A woman, whose dog was barking at me, apologized. |
| whom | object (people), very formal | My friend, whom I met at the beach party last year. |
| that | subject/object (all), can be used instead of who/which | I want to find a song that I've heard yesterday at the bar. |
| Relative Pronoun | Usage | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | subject/object (people) | The boy who cried wolf. |
| which | subject/object (not people) | Have you seen a car which is parked on the hill? |
| whose | possession (all) | A woman, whose dog was barking at me, apologized. |
| whom | object (people), very formal | My friend, whom I met at the beach party last year. |
| that | subject/object (all), can be used instead of who/which | I want to find a song that I've heard yesterday at the bar. |
Rule 1: If the relative pronoun who, which, or that is followed by a verb, then it is a subject pronoun.
Example
Explanation
My boss, who was in a hurry.
Here, who is a subject pronoun because it is followed by the verb was.
Rule 2: If the relative pronoun who, which, or that is followed by an article, noun, or pronoun, then it is an object pronoun. In this case, we can replace who with whom.
Example
Explanation
A car, which someone parked on the hill.
Someone is a pronoun that comes after the relative pronoun which, so the latter is an object pronoun.
Rule 3: We can use a relative pronoun with a preposition. In informal and spoken English, the preposition normally comes at the end of the sentence.
Example
Explanation
I don't remember the page which I stopped reading on.
Infromal sentence.
Note: We can also put a preposition before the relative pronouns in formal and written English.
Example
Explanation
I don't remember the page on which I stopped reading.
Formal sentence.
Quiz
1/4
Choose a suitable relative preposition. Did you see the car ___ was driving much too fast?
0
correct answers.