Relative clauses

We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, which tell us more about people and
things.
The relative pronouns are:
Subject

Object

Possessive

who

whom, who

whose

which

which

whose

that

that

We use who and whom for people, and which for things. We use that for people or things.
We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses, which tell us more about people and things.
We can use relative clauses to make clear which person or thing we are talking about. In these
clauses we can have the relative pronoun who, which, whose or that

We work with young people who have various problems.

Were involved with several projects that use music to help young people.

The instrument that hes playing is called a Theremin.

Hes the one whose songs we heard on the radio.

Times and places

We use when with times and where with places to make it clear which time or place we are talking
about:

Its a place where people come to make music.

It was the year when the first Beatles album was released.

but we can leave out the word when:

It was the year the first Beatles album was released.

Giving additional information

We use who, whom, whose, and which (but not that) in relative clauses to tell us more about a
person or thing. This type of clause is called a non-defining relative clause.

My sister, who plays the saxophone, is in a rock band.

The project, which started in 2009, is based in Southampton.

He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired.

Quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns

We often use quantifiers and numbers with relative pronouns: many of whom - most of whom - one
of which - none of whom - some of which- lots of whom - two of which - etc.
We can use them as subject, object or object of a preposition.

She has three brothers, two of whom are in the army.

I read three books last week, one of which I really enjoyed.

There were some good programmes on the radio, none of which I listened to.

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