Relative pronouns:

Who, Which, That, Whom, Whose, When, Where

Who – we use for people

That’s the man who I saw outside your flat last week. ( – I saw him and I told you about him)

She was the one who looked strange to me. ( – I thought she looked strange.)

They are the couple who is getting married next month. ( – I told you that these people are getting married.)

Which – we use for animals and things

That was a lovely dog which I saw you with yesterday. ( – I saw you with a lovely dog.)

He had a car accident in the car which he bought last year. ( – He bought a car last year and has had an accident recently.)

The cake which you brought with you was very nice. ( – You brought a very nice cake.)

That – both people and things

He’s the man that won the race. ( – I told you about him winning the race.)

I lost the mobile phone that I got for Christmas. ( – I got a phone and I lost it.)

She married a man that she met at university. ( – She met him at university.)

Whom – same as ‚who‘ but formal

You should call the man to whom I told about your special skills. ( – I told him about your skills and you should call him.)

Meet Jack, my boss, whom I told you about earlier. ( – I told you about him earlier.)

Whose – use as his, her, its, their

Come and meet John whose sister is my colleague. ( – John’s sister is my colleague.)

I apologised to Mary whose car I crashed. ( – Mary’s got a car, I crashed it and I apologised.)

He fell in love with Jane whose father is a doctor. (- father of Jane is a doctor.)

When – we use it for time

It happened when I drove to work this morning.

We met when on holiday in Spain.

I played tennis a lot when I was at secondary school.

Where – we use it for place

This is the house where I spent most of my childhood.

Don’t tell him where you live.

We like going to the bar where we met for the first time.

Why – after reason

That’s the reason why I have never got married.

He’s the reason why we moved out of Bristol.

When an object in a main clause is the subject in the subordinate clause we can not omit who, which, that.

Whose and where are normally not omitted from a sentence.

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