Relative pronouns:
For persons
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Subject:
Object:
Possessive:
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who/that
whom/who/that
whose
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For things
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Subject:
Object:
Possessive:
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Which/that
Which/that
Whose/of which
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Use for persons: who or that. Who is normally used as a subject.
The man who lives next door is very kind. That is much less usual than who as a subject except after superlatives and after all, nobody, no one, someone, somebody, anybody, etc. when either who or that can be used:All who / that were in the meeting felt satisfied with the final statement. As an object: whom, who or that are used, but only whom is considered very formal and seldom used in spoken English. Instead, we use who or that. It is still more common to omit the relative pronoun altogether.The man whom I saw was called Mr. Johnson.The man who I saw was called Mr. Johnson.
The man that I saw was called Mr. Johnson.
The man I saw was called Mr. Johnson. (relative pronoun omitted) With a preposition: whom or that. It is more usual to move the preposition to the end of the clause but it is still more common to omit the relative altogether.The man who I bought it from told me to oil it. The man from whom I bought it told me to oil it. Karim who I travelled with to Agadir is my best friend.Karim with whom I travelled to Agadir is my best friend. Possessive: whose is the only possible form:Ahmed whose father is an engineer is always top of our class. Use for things:
Subject: which or that.
This is the picture which / that caused such admiration.The cat which/that is on the sofa is sleeping. Object: which or that or no relative at all.The car which / that I hired broke down yesterday.
The car I hired broke down yesterday.* Which is hardly ever used after all, much, little, everything, none, no and compounds of no, or after superlatives. Instead, we use that, or omit the relative altogether, if it is a Direct Object.All the apples that fall from the tree in our garden are eaten by sheep.This is the best hotel (that) I know. With a preposition: which or that or no relative (the same as for persons).
The relative pronoun what.
What: the thing that / the things that, etc.The things that we saw astonished us = What we saw astonished us.Relative pronouns: when, where and why:
In informal language, we often use where, when or why to introduce defining relative clauses instead of at which, on which or for which.
where
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places
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I
know a restaurant where the food is excellent.
(… a restaurant at which the food is excellent)
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when
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times
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There
isn’t a day when I am not as busy as a bee.
(… a day on which I am not as busy as a bee.)
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why
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reasons
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Do you
know the reason why the flights are cancelled today?
(… the reason for
which the flights are cancelled today?)
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