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.


The leather sandals ____________I purchased last week are still on sale.

  • The dependent clause gives information about a thing, the leather sandals. The information is necessary and is not set off by commas. So, use the relative pronoun that.
  • The leather sandals that I purchased last week are still on sale.

2)Complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.


Martin Luther King Jr, __________fought for civil rights in America and was an admired minister.

  • 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.
    Martin Luther King Jr, who fought for civil rights in America, was an admired minister.
  • The dependent clause can be restated as ‘He fought for civil rights in America.’

3)Complete the sentence with the best relative pronoun.


The man _______who witnessed the car accident immediately called the police.

  • 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.
    The man who witnessed the car accident immediately called the police.
  • The dependent clause can be restated as ‘He witnessed the car accident.’

Let’s practice!🖊️