Relative Pronouns

Besides being used as question words who, whose, which, where and when can be used as relative pronouns. We can also add that to the list of relative pronouns. Instead of having two sentences, we use a relative pronoun to attach one phrase to the noun of another phrase. The attached phrase is known as a relative clause. We use the relative clause to give more information, forming one sentence, instead of having two.

We use who for people:

Yesterday, I met the reporter who wanted to interview me.

(instead of: A reporter wanted to interview me. I met her yesterday.)


And whose for possession:
Yesterday, I met the man whose son is a reporter.
(instead of: I met a man. His son is a reporter.)

And which for objects:

There’s a package, which came in the mail, for you.

(instead of: There’s a package for you. It came in the mail.)

Or that for people or objects:

I met the reporter that wanted to interview me.

There’s the package that came in the mail.

But where for places:

That’s the house where I used to live.

(instead of: You see that house. I used to live in it.)

And when for time:

Where were you last night when I called?

(instead of: I called last night. Where were you?)

In a future post, we’ll take a closer look at relative clauses.