THE RELATIVE CLAUSES

A relative pronoun is a word that introduces a dependent (or relative) clause

and connects it to an independent clause. A clause beginning with a relative
pronoun is poised to answer questions such as Which one? How many? or
What kind? Who, whom, what, which, and that are all relative pronouns.

Relative clauses are also sometimes referred to as adjective clauses, because

they identify or give us additional information about the subject of the
independent clause they relate to. Like adjectives, these clauses in some way
describe that subject. Relative pronouns, like conjunctions, are words that
join clauses—in this case, a relative clause to its main clause. The type of
relative pronoun used depends on what kind of noun is being described.

USAGE EXAMPLE
WHO: refers to a person (as the The woman who came to the door
verb’s subject) left a bouquet of flowers there.
WHOM: refers to a person (as the I am not sure whom this book
verb’s object) belongs to.
WHOSE: refers to possession The boy whose phone just rang
should stand up.
WHICH: refers to an animal or thing Interpretative dance, which I find a
bit disconcerting, is all the rage.
WHAT: refers to a topic Is this what you were talking about?
THAT: refers to a person, animal, or She finally visited the coffee shop
thing that had such great reviews.
WHEN: refers to a time or a moment The day when the concert took place
was Saturday.
WHERE: refers to a place This is the house where my son was
born.
WHY: refers to a reason Do you know the reason why the
market is closed today?

Possessive Relative Pronouns

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It surprises some people to learn that both who and which can take the
possessive form whose. Some will argue that of which is a better construction
when talking about things rather than people, but this results in unnecessary
awkwardness. The truth is that whose has been widely and correctly applied to
nonhumans for hundreds of years.

For example:

She apologized to the boy whose glasses got broken.

The house whose owner is on vacation has an unpleasant garden.

The house, the owner of which is on vacation, has an unpleasant garden. (This
is correct but a bit quaint.)

Compound Relative Pronouns

The term compound relative pronoun sounds complex, but it really isn’t.
Simply put, compound relative pronouns apply universally to a number of
people or things. They include whoever, whomever, whichever, and
whatever.

For example:

Please, tell whoever may call that I am not available.

Whomever you hire will be fine with me.

Whichever train you take from here, you will end at Charing Cross station.

Charly will be successful at whatever she chooses to do in life.

Grammar Mystery No. 1: THAT vs. WHICH

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Two relative pronouns whose functions are easily confused are that and
which.

Here’s a tip:
The rule of thumb is this: that introduces a restrictive clause, and
which introduces a nonrestrictive clause.

A restrictive clause is an essential part of its sentence; if it were taken out of

the sentence, the sentence’s meaning would change.

For example:

The wardrobe that has the fur coats in it leads to Narnia.

If we were to remove the clause “that has the fur coats in it” from the sentence,
the meaning of the sentence would change. We would no longer know which
wardrobe leads to a magical land with talking animals, which was the intention
of the sentence. This kind of clause gets a that.

On the other hand, the word which, should introduce a nonessential clause
that can be removed from a sentence without changing the sentence’s meaning.

For example:

The wardrobe, which contains several fur coats, leads to Narnia.

Here, “which contains several fur coats” is a parenthetical remark that can be
removed without materially altering the sentence. Nonrestrictive (or
nonessential) clauses are set off with commas, as shown in the example above.

Grammar Mystery No. 2: WHO vs. THAT

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Not every style guide agrees on whether that is an acceptable relative
pronoun to use when referring to people. To some, the following sentence may
sound incorrect.

This teacher that gives out candy is always the students’ favorite.

The truth is, this sentence is perfectly fine. Yet you may want to consider that
your readers could disagree. Go with the safer bet, who.

This teacher who gives out candy is always the students’ favorite.

Grammar Mystery No. 3: Keep Pronouns and Antecedents Close

An antecedent is the noun that a pronoun refers to. To ensure clarity, place an
antecedent immediately before the relative pronoun referring to it.

The park at the end of our street, which is pristine, is a favorite place of mine.

An unnecessary ambiguity is created in this sentence. What is pristine, the park

or the street? Reordering the sentence can help, but rewriting it would be even
better.

Reordering the sentence: At the end of the street, the park, which is pristine,
is a favorite place of mine.

Rewriting the sentence: The pristine park at the end of our street is a favorite
place of mine.

Grammar Mystery No. 4: Omission of the relative pronoun

In order to omit the relative pronoun, you need two things.

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1) The relative clause must be defining.

2) The relative pronoun must be the object of the relative clause.

Both of these things should be easy if you think through them carefully.

The first step is to decide whether the relative clause is defining or nondefining.

The second step is to decide whether the relative is a subject pronoun or an

object pronoun.

What is the difference between defining and nondefining

clauses?

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Defining relative clauses are used to specify which person or thing we mean.
We use the relative pronouns who or that for people. We use which or that
for things. We don't use commas in a defining relative clause.

The relative clause can come after the subject or the object of the sentence.

Clause after the subject:

This bike which / that I loved was my father’s favorite as well.

The university which / that she likes is famous.

The woman who / that my brother loves is from Mexico.

The doctor who / that my grandmother liked lives in New York.

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Clause after the object:

She loves the chocolate which / that I bought.

We went to the village which / that Lucy recommended.

John met a woman who / that I had befriended in France.

The firefighters saved a man who / that Jill worked with.

NONDEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES

Nondefining relative clauses (extra information clauses) are used to add

extra information to a sentence. We use commas in a nondefining relative
clause. We use who for people and we use which for things. The relative
pronoun that cannot be used in these clauses. We can't drop the relative
pronoun in this kind of clause, even if the relative pronoun is the subject of the
clause.

Clause comes after the subject:

My boss, who is very nice, lives in Manchester.

My sister, who I live with, knows a lot about cars.

My bicycle, which I've had for more than ten years, is falling apart.

My mother's house, which I grew up in, is very small.

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Clause comes after the object:

Yesterday I called our friend Julie, who lives in New York.

The photographer called to the Queen, who looked annoyed.

Last week I bought a new mobile phone, which I don't like now.

I really love the new Italian restaurant, which we went to last night.

What is the difference between subject pronouns and

object pronouns?

Relative pronouns can be either subjects or objects. However, subject and

object relative pronouns look exactly the same, so you need to be a grammar
detective to figure out which ones are subjects and which ones are objects.
Luckily, here there are some tips that makes it easy to find out which is which.

SUBJECT PRONOUNS

If a verb comes right after a relative pronoun, then the relative pronoun is a
subject.

Let’s take a look at an example:

        The woman who rode the horse was an expert jokey.

As you can see, the verb rode comes right after the relative pronoun who – and
therefore, we know that the relative pronoun is a subject.

OBJECT PRONOUNS

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If there isn’t a verb directly after the relative pronoun, then we know that the
relative pronoun is an object.

Let’s check out an example of this:

        The woman whom John saw on the field was an expert jokey.

Here, the relative pronoun whom is followed by the proper noun John, and
therefore we know that it is an object.

So we’ve mastered the relative clause and the distinction between subject and
object pronouns, and the distinction between defining and nondefining
clauses.

Quickly solving the problem

Let’s take a look at the following examples now:

        The dog that Mary is petting is very fluffy.

        The dog Mary is petting is very fluffy.

Do you notice anything about these sentences? Indeed – in this sentence, the
relative pronoun that is an object. Note that here, you can omit the relative
pronoun!

Now let’s again revisit the fluffy dog in a different sentence:

        The dog that has brown fur is very fluffy.

Here the relative pronoun that is a subject, because there is a verb right next
to it. Therefore, you cannot omit the relative pronoun in this sentence.

Sometimes you can omit the relative pronoun and make a contact clause, but
sometimes you can’t. It’s all about subjects and objects. When the relative
pronoun acts as an object, you can omit it, and create a contact clause. But

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when the relative pronoun acts as a subject, you absolutely cannot omit it – no
exceptions

Right now, you might be thinking, “This makes sense . . . but how can I possibly
do it quickly enough?” Indeed, it seems like a lot of work to identify a relative
clause, see if the pronoun is a subject or an object, and then decide if you can
omit it. Luckily, there are a couple ways to do this quickly and accurately.

First, just focus on the verb, not the pronoun!

If there’s a verb immediately after the relative pronoun, you know it’s a subject,
and you can’t omit the relative pronoun. If there’s no verb, you’re good to go –
you can create a contact clause!

For example:

        The water that splashed my face was very cold. (Verb after relative
pronoun = you can’t omit the relative pronoun!)

        The water that I drank was very cold. (No verb after relative pronoun =
omit the relative pronoun as you please!)

        The water I drank was very cold. (The relative pronoun that has been
successfully omitted.)

Example sentences where the relative pronoun that can be omitted

This is the house that Jack built.

The film that I’ve told you about has very nice special effects.

There is something that you should know.

It was the best finale that I’ve ever seen.

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Everything that he says is pretty clever.

That is all that I heard about the matter so far.

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