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Relative Pronouns & Adverbs

Remember this
  • who → person
  • that/which → objects or animals
  • which → choice
  • where → place
  • when → time
  • why → reason
  • whose → possession
  • whom → person

We use "who" to refer to people, for example, "the man who gave me the chocolate is Anna's fiancé." Here we identify who the person was.

"That or which" is used to talk about animals or objects for example, "everybody likes the T-shirt that/which you bought yesterday." T-shirt is the object and therefore we used "that or which". The same rule applies for animals; "the long-necked animal that/which we saw in the zoo is called a giraffe." Bear in mind that we only use "which" for choice, for example, "I want to know which team is the best."

"Where" is clearly used to indicate places, for example, "this is the village where I grew up." For "why and when," they are used for reason and time successively, for instance, "the reason why villagers leave countryside is unemployment" and "I will never forget the day when Peter asked Laura for marriage."

"Whose" is most often used for possession, for example, "the teacher whose car is black is a Maths teacher." That means that the teacher who has a black car is a Math teacher.

"Whom" is used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. Let's consider this example, "the boss whom you had the interview with was my classmate."

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1
Fill in the blanks with the right word from the list: **who - whose - that - which - where - when - why - whom**
  1. A lawyer is a person ________________________ helps people with their legal problems in the court.
  2. Frank showed me the photos ________________________ he took in Istanbul last year.
  3. The boy ________________________ father is a doctor had an accident yesterday.
  4. Marrakesh is a beautiful city ________________________ tourists enjoy the hot weather and delicious food.
  5. A camel is an animal ________________________ lives in the deserts and used to carry both people and goods.
  6. The reason ________________________ the employees went on a strike was their low salaries.
  7. I will never forget the day ________________________ I got married to Julia.
  8. The professor with ________________________ I was talking is the best one in the university.
Exercise 2
Re-write these sentences using the words given in brackets.
  1. This is the shop. I bought my new glasses. (where)
  2. The man we met yesterday. The man is nice. (whom)
  3. I don't like the car. He sold last week. (which)
  4. The woman's husband is dead. The woman is called a widow. (whose)
  5. Illiteracy is a serious problem. This problem threatens our society. (that)

Quiz 2: Quiz on Relative Pronouns & Adverbs

Exercise 1
Match the following relative pronouns or adverbs with their uses. (2 Pts)
  1. who — a. possession
  2. whose — b. place
  3. where — c. animal, object or choice
  4. which — d. person
Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with the right word from the list: **who - whose - that - which - where - when - why - whom** (8 Pts)
  1. Nick, ________________________ is an excellent football player, got a lot of awards and trophies.
  2. He likes the gift ________________________ his sister sent to him for his birthday last week.
  3. This is the town ________________________ the president was born in 1978.
  4. The man ________________________ jacket is brown is a famous actor in Egypt.
  5. The reason ________________________ she refused the job was that she lives very far.
  6. This is the time ________________________ the birds fly towards the West.
  7. I want to know ________________________ car is the most expensive in this car show room.
  8. The boss hired the woman ________________________ he interviewed last week.
Exercise 3
Re-write these sentences using the words given. (2 Pts)
  1. Would you like the T-shirt? I bought the T-shirt yesterday. (which)
  2. The man is wearing blue jeans. Can you call him? (who)
  3. The teacher talked to the student. His phone rang during the exam. (whose)
  4. Van Diesel was born in 1967 in California. Van Diesel is an American actor and director. (who)
Exercise 4
Fill in each gap with the right word from the list. (8 Pts)
  1. The girl ________________________ motorbike is red is Nancy.
    • a) whose
    • b) who
  2. This is the candidate ________________________ was chosen by the jury as the best free football style this year.
    • a) who
    • b) whose
  3. The boy ________________________ sense of humour is exceptional, is from New Castle.
    • a) which
    • b) whose
  4. "I need to make photocopy to the document ________________________ the teacher gave you last week," he said.
    • a) why
    • b) that
  5. The English test ________________________ we took last Monday was difficult.
    • a) which
    • b) who
  6. This is the place ________________________ Mr. Reed will build his new house.
    • a) where
    • b) which
  7. The lady to ________________________ I was talking is Madam Nelson from England.
    • a) whom
    • b) whose
  8. I can't find the dictionary ________________________ I borrowed from the library last week
    • a) when
    • b) that

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