Relative clauses with who/that/which

• A clause is a part of a statement. A relative clause tells us which person or thing (or what kind of person or thing) the speaker means.

• Who/that is used when we are talking about people.

• When we are talking about things, we have to use that/which.

Examples• The man who lives next door is very

friendly.

• Who was the girl that spoke very offensively in the ball?

• Everything that happened was not my fault.

• The window which was broken has now been repaired.

Contact clauses

• If a clause is an object relative clause and it is defining, who, that or which is not necessary.

It is not possible to omit who, that or which in a subject relative clause.

The man was feeling ill left early.

Examples• Have you seen the dress (which) I bought

yesterday?• The woman (who was) injured in the

accident was taken to the hospital.• There were some children (who were)

swimming in the river.

Whose

• Whose is used to indicate possession in relative clauses instead of his/her/their.

Examples

• An orphan means a child whose parents are dead.

• She’s the journalist whose article was on the front page of The Times.

Where/when/why

• Where is used to talk about places.

• When is used to indicate time.

• We can use why when we are explaining the reason in a relative clause. It is also possible to use that instead or leave out why and that.

Examples• I couldn’t understand the reason why they

were rude.

• I recently went back to the town where I was born.

• 1945 was the year when World War II ended.