Relative Pronouns Chart and Examples
Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun introduces a clause. It refers to some noun going before and also joins two sentences together. It does the work of conjunction as well as a pronoun. A word such as ‘who’ or ‘which’ that introduces a relative clause, is called a relative pronoun. More relative pronouns include whom, whose, that, whoever, whomever.
For example:
This is the boy who recites the Holy book
Who
When it is a relative pronoun, who is used to say something about a person, and not about animals or lifeless things.
Example: The man who lives next door is a teacher.
That & Which
That and which are used to start a relative clause which tells us something about an animal or a lifeless thing. For example: The train which reach Edenburg in the morning are late for some reasons.
‘Which’ and not ‘that’ is used after preposition:
The train in which we travelled was a fast one.
Whose
Whose is used to show possession, ownership or the relation between two people. Sometimes it can be used after persons. For example: This is the man whose son won the championship.
Whom
Whom is used as the object of a relative clause. For example, “the boy whom you met yesterday is my class-fellow”.
However, whom cannot be omitted in sentences like this:
This is my teacher, whom all the students respect very much.
Relative Pronouns Chart
| Subject | Object | Possessive | |
| For persons | Who | Whom/who | Whose |
| That | That | ||
| For things | Which | Which | Whose/of which |
| That | That |
Relative Pronouns Examples
- The teacher, which is very helpful, told us to use the dictionary.
- The boy who is standing over there is his brother.
- I will get my coffee with whom? With her colleagues.
- Do not leave your papers on that table where people walk by
- It is the sort of style that appeals to me
- The woman whom I saw at the bus stop was very angry.
- The woman with whom I have a lot in common always wears earrings.
- There was no bus for which we were waiting.
- There is a puppy whose name I do not know.
- The man who lives next door is tall.
Further Reading
