Relative Pronouns In English


  

Relative Pronouns  (Know more about pronoun )

A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause. In other words, relative pronouns give us information about a person or thing by introducing a relative clause, i,e, part of a sentence. (Know more about sentence )

The most common relative pronouns are Who, Whom, Which, That, Whose. 


In the following examples, ‘who’ and ‘which’ refer to the previously mentioned nouns, (Know more about noun ) boy and car respectively. Both Who and which give us information by introducing two clauses, parts of sentence. Those two clauses or parts of sentence are “will accompany you to the market” and “I bought yesterday” 

This way, a relative pronoun is used to give information about a person or thing. 

Examples:

(a) This is the boy who will accompany you to the market. 

(b) This is the car which I bought yesterday. 


Uses of Relative Pronouns

1. Who 

This relative pronoun is used to refer to people. 

This is a subject relative pronoun. This can also be used as an object relative pronoun like ‘whom’

Examples:

(a) This is the girl who met me yesterday. (Who: a subject relative pronoun)

(b) This is the girl who I met yesterday. (Who: an object relative pronoun)


2. Whom 

This relative pronoun also is used to refer to people. This is an object relative pronoun. 

Examples:

(a) The boy whom I saw in the theatre yesterday is her boyfriend. (Whom: an object relative pronoun)

(b) The man whom I met yesterday is John's father. (Whom: an object relative pronoun)


3. Which 

This is used to refer to things. 

This is used as both a subject relative pronoun and an object relative pronoun. 

Examples:

(a) This is the car which I bought yesterday. (Which: an object relative pronoun) 

(b) This is the bike which ran over my phone. (Which: a subject relative pronoun) 


4. That 

This relative pronoun can be used to refer to both people and things. This pronoun can be both subject and object. 

Examples:

(a) Show me the boy that beat you. (That: a subject relative pronoun and used for a person) 

(b) This is the house that I built last year. (That: an object relative pronoun and used for a thing, a house)


5. Whose 

This is a possessive relative pronoun. It shows ownership. It is used to refer to people, things or animals.

Examples:

(a) This is Ram whose father died yesterday. (Whose: for a person) 

(b) This is the cat whose tail was cut yesterday (Whose: for an animal)


Who, Which and That

Relative clauses give us two types of information. 

1. Essential Information about a person, thing or animal

2. Additional information about a person, thing or animal


The relative clause that gives the first type of information is called a defining relative clause and the relative clause that gives the second type of information is called a non-defining relative clause.


The two major differences between a defining and a non-defining relative clause are as follows: 

1. A defining relative clause gives essential information about a person, place, thing or animal, while a non-defining relative clause gives additional or extra information about them. 

2. A defining relative clause doesn't use commas, while a non-defining relative clause is used between commas. 

 

Read the examples carefully. 

Examples:

Defining Relative Clause: 

(a) He is the one who beat me. 

(b) This is the dog which ran after the child. 


Non-defining Relative Clause: 

(a) Ram, who is 15 years old, is my friend. 

(b) My car, which I bought two days ago, has been stolen today. 

Note:- The relative pronouns, ‘who’ and ‘which’ can be used in both defining and non-defining relative clauses, but ‘That’ is used in a defining relative clause only. 


Look at the examples carefully. 

Examples:

(a) The boy who beat me is John. (Defining relative clause) 

(b) Rahul, who is 20, is my friend. (Non-defining relative clause)

(c) The car which ran over my phone belongs to John. (Defining relative clause) 

(d) My car, which is very expensive, is parked here. (Non-defining relative clause) 

(e) Right: This is the house that my father built. (Defining relative clause) 

(f) Wrong: Ram, that is 15 years old, is my friend. (Defining relative clause) 


Who's Versus Whose 

Who's is a short form of “Who is” or “Who has”, while Whose is a possessive relative pronoun. 

Examples:

Who's coming here? (Who is) 

Who's done this? (Who has ) 

The boy whose father died yesterday is very sad.


Exercise 1 

Use the appropriate relative pronouns. 

1. The dog........tail was cut yesterday is mine.

2. The man........is sitting there is my brother. 

3. The house.......I built was destroyed by the storm. 

4. My bike,......I bought yesterday, is a second-hand one. 

5. My brother, .......is 9 years old, is coming here. 


Answer keys:- 

1. Whose 

2. Who or that

3. Which or that 

4. Which (only)

5. Who (only) 


Exercise 2 

Find out the errors in the usage of the following relative pronouns. 

1. My car, who was bought yesterday, has been stolen today. 

2. The dog who's leg was injured yesterday has died today. 

3. We are the ones which can solve this problem.

4. She is the girl whom likes me most. 

5. He is the one whose is coming to my house today. 


Answer keys:- 

1. Which, not Who 

2. Whose, not who's

3. Who, not which

4. Who, not whom 

5. Who's, not whose