Relative Clauses. Reza Yazdani.

about people and things We use relative clauses to give more information about people and things and to connect ideas.

A relative clause usually begins with a relative pronoun and comes after the noun it describes. Subject + relative clause + rest of main sentence Gangs who take revenge and fight don't solve any problems.

The Relative Clause follows the word it describes. I like the dress that has three buttons. I know the man who built this tall building. This is the man whom I told you about.

Which for animals, things & ideas That instead of “who” or “which” The relative pronouns Who for people Which for animals, things & ideas That instead of “who” or “which” Whom for people (formal) Where for places When for time Why for reason, cause Whose for possession

Who The man who lives across the road is a professor. The relative pronoun Who refers to people. The man who lives across the road is a professor.

refers to animals & things. The relative pronoun Which refers to animals & things. This is the new car which cost me $15,000.

that that can replace who, which, whom You must use that in the following cases: * In a sentence where the subject is an animal, a thing and a person together. I saw the man and the dog that were lost. *After the superlative form of adjectives . This is the funniest trick that he did. She is the most beautiful girl that I’ve ever seen. *After general words like : all, something, nothing, anything, little, much, few Not all that glitters is gold. * After ordinal numbers : the first, the second, etc., He is the first man that stepped on the moon.

whose The man whose house was destroyed built a new house. The relative pronoun whose refers to possession.. The man whose house was destroyed built a new house.

The relative pronoun can be omitted when the subject of the second sentence commits an action Look at the new picture (which) I bought last week. When the relative pronoun is the subject who does the action it cannot be omitted. The man that/ who drove the car was blind! We can never omit WHICH !!!

whom: In American English, whom is not used very often. Whom is more formal than who and is very often omitted in speech: The woman (whom) you have just talked to is my teacher. (Note that who is also possible here) Whom may not be omitted if followed by a preposition: I have found you the man for whom you were looking.

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