Grammar Supp. 23
Defining Relative Clauses (Adjective Clauses) Part 1
Relative Clauses with WHO / WHICH / THAT
1. I thanked the woman. She helped me.
I thanked the woman who/that helped me.
1. The man was my neighbour. I saw him.
The man who/ that I saw was my neighbour.
2. The book is mine. It is on the table.
The book which/that is on the table is mine.
2. The movie wasn’t very good. We saw it last night.
The movie which/ that we saw last night wasn’t very
good.
Incorrect!! The book is mine that is on the table.
Incorrect!! The man who I saw him was my
neighbour.
Who= used for people
Which= used for things
That= used for both people and things
The woman is a doctor. She lives next door.
subject pron
The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
relative clause
Incorrect!! The woman lives next door is a doctor.
When we use a subject pronoun in a relative clause
we cannot omit it.
Some more examples;
1. We know a lot of people. They live in the
country.
subject pron
We know a lot of people who live in the country.
The woman was away on holiday. I wanted to see
her.
object pron
The woman who I wanted to see was away on
holiday.
relative clause
Or The woman I wanted to see was away on
holiday.
relative clause
Incorrect!! The woman who I wanted to see her was
away on holiday.
When we use an object pronoun in a relative clause,
we can omit it.
Some more examples;
1. Tom is talking to a woman. Do you know her?
object pron
2. What is the name of the person? He phoned you. Do you know the woman Tom is talking to?
subject pron
What is the name of the person who phoned you?
2. I like the people. I work with them.
object pron
3. The book is about a girl. She runs away from
I like the people I work with.
home.
subject pron
3. The people were very nice. We met them
The book is about a girl who runs away from
yesterday.
home.
object pron
The people we met yesterday were very nice.
Relative Clauses with WHO / WHOM
The man is Mr Jones. He lives next door.
subject pron.
We use ‘who’ (that) when it is the subject of the
verb in the relative clause.
The man who/that lives next door is Mr.Jones.
relative clause
The man was Mr. Jones. I saw him.
object pron.
The man who/whom/that I saw was Mr. Jones.
We use ‘who/whom’ when it is the object of the
verb in the relative clause.
•
•
Who is usually used instead of whom,
especially in spoken/informal English.
Whom is generally used in formal English.
Relative Clauses with PREPOSITIONS
She is the woman. I told you about her.
(a) She is the woman about whom I told you.
She is the woman about who I told you.
When we use adjective clauses with prepositions,
it may come before the relative pronoun ‘whom’
not ‘who’ or as in everyday usage, the
preposition comes after the subject and verb of
the adjective clause.
(b) She is the woman who(m) I told you about.
(c) She is the woman that I told you about.
She is the woman about that I told you.
Relative Clauses with WHOSE
1. I know the man. His bicycle was stolen.
I know the man whose bicycle was stolen.
Whose is used to show possessions. It carries the
same meaning as other possessive pronouns used
as adjectives: his, her, its, and their. Like his, her,
2.The student writes well. I read her composition.
its, and their, whose is connected to a noun.
The student whose composition I read writes
His bicycle: whose bicycle
well.
3. Mr. Catt has a painting. Its value is inestimable. Her composition: whose composition
Its value: whose value
Mr. Catt has a painting whose value is
inestimable.
WHOSE CANNOT BE OMITTED!!
Exercise 1: Combine the sentences using the relative pronoun who/which.
1. The book was good. I read it last month.
__________________________________________
2. I liked the girl. We met her in the restaurant yesterday.
__________________________________________
3. The people were very nice. We saw them at the party.
__________________________________________
4. The man is standing over there. Ann brought him to the party.
______________________________________
Exercise 2: Combine the sentences using the relative pronoun ‘whose’.
1. I know a man. His last name is Goose. __________________________________________
2. I apologized to the woman. I spilled her coffee. __________________________________________
3. The man called the police. His wallet was stolen. __________________________________________
4. I met the woman. Her husband is the president of the corporation.
______________________________
5. The professor is excellent. I am taking her course. __________________________________________
6. Mr. North teaches a class for students. Their native language is not English. _____________________
7. I live in a dormitory. Its residents come from many countries. _________________________________
Relative Clauses with WHERE
We visited the house. My father was born in the
house.
Where is used when we define the object if it
shows the location of a state or an action.
We visited the house where my father was born.
Relative Clauses with WHEN
1. I will never forget the day. I met you then (on
that day).
(a) I will never forget the day when I met you.
(b) I will never forget the day on which I met
you.
(c) I will never forget the day that I met you.
(d) I will never forget the day - I met you.
‘When’ is used in an adjective clause to modify a
noun of time (year, day, time, century etc.)
If you want, you can use a relevant preposition
before WHICH (ON/IN/AT which) as is (b). If not,
you can omit the preposition and use THAT/ - as in
(c&d).
Some more examples:
1. Monday is the day. We will come then. (on that
day)
Monday is the day when/ that / on which/ X we
will come.
2. 7:05 is the time. My plane arrives then. (at that
time)
7:05 is the time when/that/at which/X my plane
arrives.
3. July is the month. The weather is usually the
hottest. (in that month)
July is the month when/in which/that/X the
weather is the hottest.
Relative Clauses with WHY
1. Do you know the reason why he left?
2.The reason why I turned down the job is that the
pay was too low
3.There are many reasons why people choose not to
get married
Why is an adverb of reason. The relative clause is
relating to why something happened.
Exercise 3. Complete each sentence using ‘who/that/whose/where/when’
1. What’s the man of the man ______________ car you borrowed?
2. A cemetery is a place _________________ people are buried.
3. A pacifist is a person ________________ believes that all wars are wrong.
4. An orphan is a child ________________ parents are dead.
Exercise 4. Correct the sentences if it is only necessary.
1. The woman lives with her daughter is a nurse.
2. Have you found the keys you lost?
The woman who/that lives
OK
3. This is the new rug that we bought last week.
_________________
4. The people whom work in the office are very friendly.
_________________
5. What’s the name of the hotel which you stayed last week?
_________________
6. What have you done with the money I gave you?
_________________
7. He was the man at that I was laughing.
_________________
Exercise 6: Combine the sentences by using ‘WHEN’ .
1. Do you remember the day? We went to the zoo on that day.
___________________________________.
2. Summer is the time of the year. The weather is the hottest then.
___________________________________.
3. There came a time. He had to spend his money then.
___________________________________.
4. Yesterday was a day. Everything went wrong then.
___________________________________.
5. 1960 is the year. The revolution took place in that year.
___________________________________.
Exercise 7: Use your own ideas to complete these sentences with ‘WHEN’ OR ‘WHY’.
1. I’’ll always remember the day ___________________________________.
2. I’ll never forget the time ___________________________________.
3. The reason ___________________________________ was that I didn’t know your address.
4. Unfortunately, I wasn’t at home the evening ___________________________________.
5. The reason ___________________________________ is that they don’t need one.
6. _______ was the year ___________________________________.
7. I can’t seem to understand the reason ___________________________________.
8. The reason why he left the company is ___________________________________.
9. Could you tell me the reason ___________________________________?
Grammar Supp. 23
ANSWER KEY : Defining Relative Clauses (Adjective Clauses) Part 1
Exercise 1:
1. The book which I read last month was good.
2. I liked the girl (who/whom/that) we met in the restaurant yesterday.
3. The people (who/whom/that) we saw at the party were very nice.
4. The man (who/whom/that) Ann brought to the party is standing over there.
Exercise 2
1.I know a man whose last name is Goose.
2.I apologized to the woman whose coffee I spilled.
3.The man whose wallet was stolen called the police.
4.I met the woman whose husband is the president of the corporation..
5.The professor whose course I’m taking is excellent
6.Mr. North teaches a class for students whose native language is not English.
7. I live in a dormitory whose residents come from many countries.
Exercise 3
1. whose
2. where
3. who/that
4. whose
Exercise 4
3. ok
4. who work in the office
5. where you stayed
6. ok
7. that I was laughing at
Exercise 6
1. Do you remember the day on which/when we went to the zoo.
2. Summer is the time of the year when the weather is the hottest.
3. There came a time when he had to spend his money.
4. Yesterday was a day when everything went wrong.
5. 1960 is the year when/in which the revolution took place.
Exercise 7: Students’ own answers
SOURCES
Grammarway 3- Express Publishing
Practice Your Grammar 1 - METU
Understanding and Using English Grammar_Advanced-Betty Azar