
Relative Pronouns:
What are Relative Pronouns?
Relative Pronouns are used to join a clause or phrase to a noun or pronoun (antecedent) in the previous clause. The Relative Pronoun introduces the relative clause and can be a subject or an object of the verb or the object of a preposition.
Relative Pronouns List:
Relative Pronoun | Used for | Relative Pronoun Examples |
Who | Used for People
Refers to Subject or Object |
Snehith who sent you the gift is my son.
Do you know Snehith who sent you the gift? |
Whom | Used for People
Refers to Object |
The lady whom we talked about is an IAS officer. |
Whose | Used for People and Animals
Refers to Possession |
This is the man whose money was lost in stocks. |
Which | Used for Things and Animals
Refers to Subject or Object |
My son bought a Tesla which is his favourite car. |
What | Used for Things Refers to Subject or Object |
He follows what he says. |
That | Used for People, Animals, and Things
Refers to Subject or Object |
This is the situation that I expected. |
Where | Used in place of at which Refers to places | I know a place where we can hide this horse. |
When | Used in place of on which Refer to time | There will be a day when you realise everything. |
Why | Used in place of for which Refer to reason | I don’t know the reason why you have insulted him. |
Functions of the Relative pronoun:
Within the Relative (Subordinate) Clause, the Relative Pronouns may work as Subject of the verb, Object of the verb, or Object of a Preposition.
Relative Pronoun as a Subject: When the verb is used right after a Relative Pronoun in a sentence, it is called the Subject.
Examples:
- The man who helped Covid patients got rewarded. (The man helped Covid patients. ‘The man’ is the subject.)
- This is the website that helped several students. (The website helped several students. ‘The website’ is the subject.)
- Don’t go in bad weather which is unsafe for you. (‘The weather is unsafe for you. ‘The weather is the subject.)
Relative Pronoun as an Object: When there is no verb right after a Relative Pronoun in a sentence, it is called the Object. We use any noun or pronoun immediately after the Relative Pronoun.
Examples:
- I saw a girl whom I met in Bangalore. (I met a girl in Bangalore. “A girl is an object)
- This is the lappy which my brother gave as a gift. (My brother gave the lappy as a gift. ‘The lappy is the object.)
- The student, whom we helped, has helped many others. (We helped the student. ‘The student is the object)
Relative Pronoun as an Object of a Preposition:
Examples:
- This is the office in which I work.
- The reason, for which you have come here, has not been disclosed.
- This is the teacher to whom I submit the project.
- The passengers, with whom I should travel, are still coming.
The Relative Pronoun works as a Pronoun as well as a Conjunction.
Examples:
- I met Mr. Reddy who taught us English.
Here, the Relative Pronoun ‘who’ acts as a pronoun as it has replaced a noun ‘Mr. Reddy’ and also acts as a conjunction as it joins two clauses ‘I met Mr. Reddy’ and ‘taught us English.’
Uses of the Relative Pronouns:
The use of Who:
It is used
- for people.
- sometimes for pet animals.
- as the Subject (Nominative Case).
- for Masculine or Feminine Gender.
- for both Singular and Plural.
Examples:
- These are the players who received the trophy.
- The players who played by fair means did not win the trophy.
- The girls who teased the boy got rusticated.
- The principal saw the girls who teased the boy.
- Aswini, who participated in a mega marathon event, won the gold medal.
- This is the lady who received the gold medal.
- This is the man who helped many Covid patients.
- Don’t believe a person who says one thing now and the other thing later.
The use of Whom:
It is used
- for people.
- as the Object (Accusative Case).
- for Masculine or Feminine Gender.
- for both Singular and Plural.
Examples:
- These are the people whom we should not allow into the campus.
- The boy whom we helped is in London now.
- Mr. Reddy whom we met yesterday is our master.
- The response of the principal whom I have met is good.
- This is the student whom we appreciated earlier.
Whom with a Preposition:
Examples:
- There are ten new employees to whom I sent the appointment letters.
- Spoken English classes are good for the students for whom English is a second language.
- I have many trusted friends with whom I share everything.
The use of Whose:
It is used
- for people and animals and must be followed by a noun.
- as the Possessive (Genitive Case).
- to replace the possessive expressions (my, your, his, her, its, our, their)
- for Masculine or Feminine Gender.
- for both Singular and Plural.
Examples:
- The government needs to help the children whose parents have died of Covid19.
- We have issued hall tickets to all the students whose payment is clear.
- I know many lovers whose love is not successful.
- We spoke to Hrithik whose ambition is to become an IAS officer.
- The man whose bike was missing gave a complaint.
The use of Which:
It is used
- for animals and things
- as the Subject or Object (Nominative or Accusative Case).
- for both Singular and Plural.
Examples:
- How can you join a school which is far away from here?
- I need to attend a party which is going to be arranged by my friend.
- There are several animals which are without food.
- The school which you have chosen is really good.
- The new dog which I bought yesterday is so cute.
- There are several paintings which have been done by my son.
The use of What:
It is used
- only for things without an antecedent
- only for Singular.
- as the Subject or Object (Nominative or Accusative Case).
- Its antecedent is not expressed directly.
- It does not refer to a noun that comes before it.
- ‘What’ means ‘that which’ or ‘the things which.’
Examples:
- What seems difficult may not be difficult. (Used as a Subject)
- What is easy to speak seems hard sometimes. (Used as a Subject)
- What was shown as real might be magic. (Used as a Subject)
- What may be said as critical is actually easy. (Used as a Subject)
- What cannot be created must not be destroyed. (Used as a Subject)
- What you do may be useful to others. (Used as an Object)
- I can always get what I desire. (Used as an Object)
- Give him only what he requires. (Used as an Object)
- Just contribute what you can. (Used as an Object)
- Nobody knows what he will become in the future. (Used as an Object)
Note:
What Vs. That:
When there is an antecedent, we generally use ‘that’ in place of ‘what’.
- The gift what you gave me is really valuable. (Incorrect)
(Here, the use of ‘what’ is wrong because there is an antecedent ‘gift’.)
- The gift that you gave me is really valuable. (correct)
What Vs. Which:
What is used in general when there are many options and which is used for specific things when there are limited options.
Examples:
- What do you select out of those 100 cars?
- Which do you select from those two cars?
The use of That:
It is used
- for people, animals and things
- as the Subject or Object (Nominative or Accusative Case).
- for both Singular and Plural.
- We use ‘that’ instead of who, whom or which.
Examples:
- The book that is damaged has been returned. (Used as the Subject)
- My bike that is parked outside is missing. (Used as the Subject)
- There are so many vehicles that are seized by the financiers. (Used as the Subject)
- She has bought mangoes that are very sweet. (Used as the Subject)
- This is the book that I referred to you. (Used as the Object)
- The city that I prefer to visit is Kashmir. (Used as the Object)
- This is the man that I have spoken of. (Used as the Object)
- The activities that you prepared are really excellent. (Used as the Object)
‘That’ is used after Superlative Adjectives:
Examples:
- This is the best decision that you have ever taken.
- Terminator is one of the best movies that I have ever seen.
‘That’ is used after some words like all, any, anybody, anything, none, no one, nobody, nothing, same, somebody, something.
Examples:
- There is nothing that I consider about it.
- All the work that you have done is of no use.
- Is there anybody that I can interview?
- All that seems good may not be good.
- There is something in this painting that impressed me.
‘That’ is used after Interrogative Pronouns – Who and What.
Examples:
- Who is the person that I must meet?
- What are your instructions that I need to follow?
‘That’ is used instead of ‘who’ or ‘which’ after two antecedents, one denoting a person and the other denoting an animal or a thing:
Examples:
- Both the man and his car that are missing are found in a canal.
- The police and their hounds that went into the jungle returned with a criminal.
Use of Where, When and Why
Where: Used in place of at which, referring to places.
- I know a place where we can hide this horse.
- Our friend has a home theatre where we can watch this movie
When: Used in place of on which, referring to time.
- There will be a day when you realise everything.
Why: Used in place of for which, referring to reason.
- I don’t know the reason why you have insulted him.
The use of As and But:
As is used as a relative pronoun after ‘such’ and ‘same’.
Examples:
- I never had such a time as today.
- I just don’t want to face the same problem as this.
- Her problem is the same as yours.
- You can do the same as I do.
But is used after a negative, in the sense of who……not or which……not.
Examples:
- There is no student but will attend the classes. (That means there is no student who will not attend the classes)
- There is no problem but has a solution. (Means – there is no problem which does not have a solution)
- There is scarcely a teacher but knows these basic things. (That means there is no (scarcely any) teacher who doesn’t know these basic things)
- There is no employee but supports me. (Means – there is no employee who doesn’t support me)
Compound Relative Pronouns:
A Pronoun that is formed by adding a suffix like ‘ever’, ‘soever’ is called a Compound Pronoun. We use the suffix ‘-ever’ and ‘-soever’ for emphasis or to show surprise.
We use compound Relative Pronouns without an antecedent because they contain antecedents within them.
The Compound Relative Pronouns are: Whoever (Whosoever), Whomever (Whomsoever), Whichever (Whichsoever), Whatever (Whatsoever)
Examples:
- I will speak to whoever wants to speak to me.
- Whoever comes to the office, inform them about this.
- You can go with whomever you like.
- Whatever happens, let it happen.
- You can invite whomever you want.
- Whatever I suggest, he happily accepts.
- You can take whichever you prefer.
- Whichever of the jobs you accept, that will be fine.
- You can do whatever you want.
Relative Pronouns Exercises:
Fill the blanks with suitable Relative Pronouns:
- We always like the people — speak the truth.
- There was an elephant — is very small.
- The students — books are lost did not come to school.
- She went to Karnataka — is her birthplace.
- I have seen the bike —– looks like yours
- I did not find the teacher — punished the boy.
- Here is the bike — I have recently lost.
- I hopefully get — I deserve.
- Time — is lost, is lost forever.
- I already know the person — you called.
- Here is a book — you can read.
- Can you show me the road —— leads to the chowrasta?
- The parcel — you sent did not arrive.
- Carefully listen to — she says.
- Did you open the email — I sent you?
- — I have said is final.
- Do you expect — will happen?
- These are the students —– names are on the notice board.
Answers:
- Who, 2. Which, 3. Whose, 4. Which, 5. Which, 6. Who, 7. Which, 8. What, 9. Which, 10. Whom, 11. That, 12. That, 13. Which, 14. What, 15. That, 16. What, 17. What, 18. Whose
Also Read:
- Types of Pronouns
- Uses of Pronouns
- Impersonal Pronoun
- Exclamatory Pronouns
- Interrogative Pronouns
- Defining and non-defining relative clauses
- Omission of the Relative Pronoun
- Reciprocal Pronouns
- Possessive Pronouns
- Distributive Pronouns
- Indefinite Pronouns
- Demonstrative Pronouns
- Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns
- Personal Pronouns