RELATIVE PRONOUNS

AND
RELATIVE CLAUSES
 Who
Ana is the girl _______ was exposed to
prejudiced attitudes.

Which /that
The file ____________ I sent you yesterday
contained a virus.

Whose
Ana, ______ parents are very
understanding, was very relieved when she
could solve the problem.
Relative pronouns:
Who, which, that, whose

We use ________
who or that when we are
talking about a person (subject or
object)
which or that when we are
We use ________
talking about a thing (subject or object)

whose to show that

We use ________
something belongs to somebody.
 Difference who/whom

The woman who called me is my teacher.

Who – refers to the subject and cannot be omitted

The woman whom you met yesterday is

my teacher.
Whom – refers to the object and can be omited
(you can also use who)
 Now analyse these two sentences.
The friend who had introduced me to Jo
didn’t know his intentions.

Defining Relative Clause

Ana, who is a 14-year-old teenager, went

through a difficult situation online.

Non-defining Relative Clause

The friend who had introduced me to Jo
didn’t know his intentions.
Defining Relative Clause

It’s essential to identify or define the subject or

object of the sentence.
We do not use commas to separate the clauses.
The pronouns we use in these clauses are: who,
whom, which, whose and that .
When who, which, or that are the object of the
relative clause (not the subject) the pronoun can be
omitted)
Ana, who is a 14-year-old teenager, went
through a difficult situation online.
Non-defining Relative Clause

They are used to add extra information to the

subject or object of a sentence.
The information is not essential to the
meaning of the sentence.
You have to use commas between the word
and the relative
“that” cannot be used in a non-defining
relative clause.
Join the sentences by means of a relative pronoun. Don’t forget to verify
they are Defining or Non-defining and punctuate them correctly.
1. A man has gone to prison. He shot two policemen.
The man who/that shot two policemen has gone to prison.
2. A bomb caused a lot of damage. It went off this morning.
The bomb which/that went off this morning caused a lot of damage.
3. A footballer has been banned from playing again. He took drugs.
The footballer who/that took drugs has been banned from playing again.
4. The person has now been released. The police were questioning him.
The person who(m) the police were questioning has now been released.
5. Jeremy is my neighbour. We saw him yesterday.
Jeremy ,whom we saw yesterday, is my neighbour.
6. That book “Brighton Rock” is really good. I was reading it.
That book “Brighton Rock”, which I was reading, is really good.
7. The girl lives in our street. Her photo was in the paper.
The girl whose photo was in the paper lives in our street.
8. Crossford is miles from anywhere. It has only two hundred inhabitants.
Crossford ,which has only two hundred inhabitants, is miles from ...
9. The TV programme is repeated this evening. We missed it.
The TV programme which we missed is repeated this evening.
10. The teacher comes from London. You have met her.
The teacher who(m) you have met comes from London.
 Sentential relative clauses
• Sentencial relative clauses are adverbial
clauses which refer back to the whole of
the preceding main clause or the verb
phrase and predicate of that clause.

e.g. Last night I went to a rock concert. This

was a memorable experience.
Last night I went to a rock concert,
which was a memorable experience.
• Page 139 (Sixteen +, 11º)
Ex.B.
1. Harriet said I was the best kisser, which I of
course believed.
2. Someone suggested playing spin-the-bottle,
which made everyone very cheerful.
3. I travelled from Italy to Spain by car, which
allowed me to see a great deal of the …
4. Taylor helped Linda with her homewrok, for
which the latter was very grateful.
5. Louisa told me most of her secrets, which
allowed me to get to know her really
intimately.