Use relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, and that

Key Notes:

🗼A relative pronoun introduces a dependent (or relative) clause that describes a noun or pronoun. The five main relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that.


🗼 The relative pronouns who and whom give information about people.


🗼 To figure out whether to use who or whom, restate the dependent clause with a personal pronoun. If the clause uses a subject pronoun (he, she, or they), use who. If the clause uses an object pronoun (him, her, or them), use whom.

  • The woman who lives next door grows tomatoes in her garden.
  • She lives next door.
  • Peter, whom you met yesterday, has four younger brothers.
  • You met him yesterday.

🗼 The relative pronoun that gives necessary information about things. Necessary information narrows down what you’re talking about and is not set off by commas.

  • We walked to a park that had a tire swing.
  • The information narrows down which park we walked to. It is necessary.

🗼 The relative pronoun which adds unnecessary information about things. This extra information does not narrow down what you’re talking about. It is always set off by commas.

  • We walked to Glendale Park, which has a tire swing.
  • The information is extra. It does not narrow down which park we walk to.

🗼 The relative pronoun whose shows possession.

  • Emily, whose hair is quite long, likes wearing plaits.


🗼 Do not confuse whose with who’s. Who’s is a contraction for who is or who has. It does not show possession.

  • Emily, who’s quite tall, can reach the top shelf.
  • Emily, who is quite tall, can reach the top shelf.

Learn with an example

1)Complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.
I’m anxious to meet Finn, ______has my dream job.

  • The dependent clause gives information about a person. You can restate the dependent clause with the subject pronoun he, so use the relative pronoun who. I’m anxious to meet Finn, who has my dream job.
  • The dependent clause can be restated as ‘He has my dream job.’

2)Complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.
The magician _____we saw last week could make coins disappear.

  • The dependent clause gives information about a person. You can restate the dependent clause with the object pronoun him, so use the relative pronoun whom. The magician whom we saw last week could make coins disappear.
  • The dependent clause can be restated as ‘We saw him last week.’

3)Complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.
Leo’s furniture shop, _________opened twenty years ago, just added a new location.

  • The dependent clause gives information about a thing, Leo’s furniture shop. The information is unnecessary and is set off by commas. So, use the relative pronoun which.
  • Leo’s furniture shop, which opened twenty years ago, just added a new location.

Let’s practice!🖊️