1 People, things and places

who
1 You use who at the beginning of a relative clause that gives more information about
a person or people, when they are the subject of the clause. (The word who is not used
to talk about animals or things.) The relative clause immediately follows the word or
phrase to which it refers. You can combine two sentences into a single sentence with
who if they have the same subject:

• Alice is my best friend. She lives next door.

• Alice, who lives next door, is my best friend.

2 In this example you could combine the two sentences in a different way, without
affecting the meaning:

• Alice is my best friend. She lives next door.

• Alice, who is my best friend, lives next door.

Language help
Note that in such cases there are commas before and after the relative
clause, because it is providing additional information that is not essential.

3 Sometimes there is only one possible way of combining the two sentences without
affecting the meaning:

• A man phoned while you were out. He sounded angry.

• A man, who sounded angry, phoned while you were out.

4 You can also use who to combine two sentences when the subject of one sentence
(which you change into a relative clause) is the same as an object of the other sentence:

• The woman dived into the lake to rescue the boy. The boy couldn't swim.
• The woman dived into the lake to rescue the boy, who couldn’t swim.

• Peter has two sisters and two brothers. His sisters are twins.
• Peter has two sisters, who are twins, and two brothers.

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 • Mr and Mrs Brown are friends of my parents'. I travelled home with them.
• I travelled home with Mr and Mrs Brown, who are friends of my parents’.

5 A relative clause beginning with who sometimes provides essential information,

saying exactly which person you are talking about:

• One person picked up more litter than anyone else. That person was given a prize.
• The person who picked up the most litter was given a prize.

Language help
Note that in such cases there are no commas around the relative clause.

whom
1 You use whom instead of who in a relative clause when the person or people it refers
to are the object, not the subject, of the clause. You can combine two sentences with
whom when the object of one sentence (which you change into a relative clause) is the
same as the subject or an object of the other sentence:

• A boy with fair hair waved to Jane. Jane did not recognise the boy.
• A boy with fair hair, whom Jane did not recognise, waved to her.

• A boy with fair hair waved to Jane. He recognised her.

• A boy with fair hair waved to Jane, whom he recognised.

2 You also use whom after a preposition, such as to, for, by, with or from, when the
person or people are the indirect object of the sentence that you change into a relative
clause, or the object of a preposition in that sentence:

• Joe went to see his grandmother. He had bought her a bunch of flowers.
• Joe went to see his grandmother, for whom he had bought a bunch of flowers.

• Mr and Mrs Brown are friends of my parents'. I travelled home with them.
• Mr and Mrs Brown, with whom I travelled home, are friends of my parents’.

3 In all the examples above, the relative clause provides additional information that is not
essential. For this reason the relative clause is separated from the rest of the sentence
with a comma or pair of commas. However, a relative clause beginning with whom
(or a preposition followed by whom) sometimes provides essential information, saying
exactly which person or people you are talking about. In such cases there are no commas
around the relative clause:

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 • Joe likes one of the girls. Her name is Mary.
• The girl whom Joe likes is called Mary.

• The president was speaking to some people. They looked bored.

• The people to whom the president was speaking looked bored.

4 You can also use whom to rewrite a single sentence, changing the order of the parts:

• Sally is going to marry a Chinese man.

• The man whom Sally is going to marry is Chinese.

• The policeman was talking to an anxious-looking woman.

• The woman to whom the policeman was talking looked anxious.

whose
1 You use whose at the beginning of a relative clause about a person or thing belonging
to somebody or something you have just mentioned. (Whose is mainly used for people,
but it can sometimes be used for animals, places or things.) When you combine two
sentences in this way, you change a possessive (such as his, the girl’s or of the book) in
one of the sentences to whose and make that sentence the relative clause:

• One of my classmates is allergic to peanuts. His name is Joe.

• One of my classmates, whose name is Joe, is allergic to peanuts.

• The girl's mother is a nurse. The girl is not afraid of hospitals.

• The girl, whose mother is a nurse, is not afraid of hospitals.

• This book is very interesting. The author of the book used to be a spy.
• This book, whose author used to be a spy, is very interesting.

2 You can sometimes combine two sentences with whose when one of them contains
the verb have, showing possession:

• Jane has short, curly hair. She envies my long, straight hair.
• Jane, whose hair is short and curly, envies my long, straight hair.

3 In all the examples above, the relative clause provides additional information that is not
essential, so it is separated from the rest of the sentence with a pair of commas. You do
not put commas around a relative clause beginning with whose if it contains essential
information:

• The passports of some of the tourists had been stolen. These tourists were very angry.
• The tourists whose passports had been stolen were very angry.

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that, which
1 You can use that or which at the beginning of a relative clause giving essential
information about a particular thing. The clause makes clear exactly which of a number
of similar things you are talking about. For this reason it is not separated from the rest
of the sentence with a comma or pair of commas. You can combine two sentences in
this way when one gives you essential information about the subject or an object of the
other:

• Bill wants one of those books. It is on the top shelf.

• The book that Bill wants is on the top shelf.
• The book which Bill wants is on the top shelf.

• Sue lent me a pen. I have lost it.

• I have lost the pen that Sue lent me.
• I have lost the pen which Sue lent me.

2 You can also use that or which to rewrite a single sentence, changing the order of the
parts:

• She was wearing boots made of black leather.

• The boots that she was wearing were made of black leather.
• The boots which she was wearing were made of black leather.

3 If the relative clause begins with a preposition, you must use which, not that:

• I cut the cheese with a knife. The knife is on the table.

• The knife with which I cut the cheese is on the table.

Language help
Note that in formal English you should always put the preposition at
the beginning of the relative clause, not at the end. In spoken language,
however, you might say, “The knife I cut the cheese with is on the table.”

4 You can sometimes use that to refer to a person or people, instead of who or whom,
especially in spoken language. However, you must never use which in this way:

• Some students don't work hard enough. They won't pass their exams.
• Students who don’t work hard enough won’t pass their exams.
• Students that don’t work hard enough won’t pass their exams.
• I saw a man. He was wearing a blue hat.
• The man whom I saw was wearing a blue hat.
• The man that I saw was wearing a blue hat.
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5 A relative clause sometimes provides additional information that is not essential. In this
case it is separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma or pair of commas. You
must use which, not that, to introduce such a clause:

• This bracelet is made of gold. It was a birthday present from my aunt.

• This bracelet, which was a birthday present from my aunt, is made of gold.

• One of the tourists asked an interesting question. The guide didn't answer the
question.
• One of the tourists asked an interesting question, which the guide didn’t answer.

• The exercise on the next page is very difficult. You need a dictionary for this exercise.
• The exercise on the next page, for which you need a dictionary, is very difficult.

6 If the two sentences have the same subject, you can sometimes combine them in two
different ways without affecting the meaning:

• This bracelet is made of gold. It was a birthday present from my aunt.

• This bracelet, which was a birthday present from my aunt, is made of gold.
• This bracelet, which is made of gold, was a birthday present from my aunt.

where
1 You use where at the beginning of a relative clause giving information about a place
you have just mentioned. You can combine two sentences referring to the same place
by changing one of them into a relative clause of this type:

• One of the houses has been demolished. My grandmother was born in that house.
• The house where my grandmother was born has been demolished.

• The top shelf needs dusting. We keep our best ornaments on this shelf.
• The top shelf, where we keep our best ornaments, needs dusting.

2 In the first example, the relative clause contains essential information telling you
exactly which house has been demolished, so there are no commas around the clause.
In the second example, the relative clause contains additional information that is not
essential, so the clause is separated from the rest of the sentence by a pair of commas.

3 You can sometimes use in which, on which, to which, etc. instead of where:

• One of the houses has been demolished. My grandmother was born in that house.
• The house in which my grandmother was born has been demolished.
• The top shelf needs dusting. We keep our best ornaments on this shelf.
• The top shelf, on which we keep our best ornaments, needs dusting.