Em inglês os pronomes relativos (relative pronouns) são palavras que conectam duas orações.

Exemplos de pronomes relativos são:

 that — que;
 who — que, quem, o qual;
 whom — quem;
 which — que, o qual, o que;
 whose — cujo, cuja, cujos, cujas;
 what — o que;
 when — quando, em que, no qual, na qual, nos quais, nas quais.

Existem dois tipos de relative clause, a primeira é usada para deixar claro de qual pessoa ou coisa estamos
falando, exemplos:
 Isaac Newton is the man who discovered the gravity.
Isaac Newton é o homem que descobriu a gravidade.
 This is the cottage which my dad built.
Este é o chalé que o meu pai construiu.
Nestes casos os pronomes who e which podem ser substituídos por that.
 Isaac Newton is the man that discovered the gravity.
 This is the cottage that my dad built.
Quando o pronome for o objeto da relative clause ele pode ser omitido.
 This is the cottage my dad built.
O segundo tipo de relative clause é o que dá mais informações sobre uma pessoa, coisa ou situação, neste
caso a relative clause comumente aparece entre vírgulas. Exemplos:
 My neighbor, who is 65, has just retired.
Meu vizinho, que tem 65 anos de idade, acaba de se aposentar.
 We had a meal yesterday, which was fantastic.
Fizemos uma refeição ontem que estava ótima.
 I met our teacher in the subway, which was kind of awkward.
Eu encontrei nossa professora no metrô, o que foi um pouco estranho.
Nesse tipo de relative clause não se pode omitir o pronome e nem usar o that.
 My neighbor, that is 65, has just retired. ERRADO
 We had a meal yesterday, was fantastic. ERRADO
Usos dos pronomes
That
That pode ser usado em diferentes situações tanto para pessoas, quanto para animais e coisas.
 He is the politician that saved the budget.
Ele é o político que salvou o orçamento.
 I’ve bought the guitar that was on sale
Eu comprei a guitarra que estava em promoção.

Who

Who pode ser usado como um pronome relativo. (Fonte: Bankrx/Shutterstock/Reprodução)

É usado para pessoas. Exemplo:

 The woman who lives there is a famous actress.

A mulher que mora lá é uma atriz famosa.

Whose/Whom

Whose e whom são as formas possessivas de who (quem). Exemplos:

 This is Paul, whose brother went to church with me.
Este é Paulo, cujo irmão ia para a igreja comigo.
 This is Rebecca’s brother, with whom I went to school.
Este é o irmão da Rebeca, com quem eu ia para a escola.
 She is a filmmaker whose work I admire.
Ela é uma cineasta cujo trabalho eu admiro.

When/Where

Podemos usar When como pronome para deixar claro o momento sobre o qual estamos falando
e Where para o lugar. Exemplos:
 Florence is the Town where Machiavelli was born.
Florença é a cidade em que Maquiavel nasceu.
 Brazil won the World Cup in 2002. It was the year when my son was born.
O Brasil ganhou a Copa do Mundo de 2002. Esse foi o ano em que meu filho nasceu.
— Nesses casos o when pode ser omitido:
 Brazil won the World Cup in 2002. It was the year my son was born.

What

É usado para algo que é sujeito ou objeto da frase.

  I know what they are talking about.
Eu sei do que eles estão falando.
 They deserved what happened to them last week.
Eles mereceram o que aconteceu a eles na semana passada.
Pode ser usado também em perguntas:

 What are you doing?

O que você está fazendo?

Which

O pronome which é usado para coisas, animais ou abstrações como sentimentos. Exemplo:
 I was on a conference which endend very late.
Eu estava em uma conferência que acabou muito tarde.
Pode ser usado em perguntas para determinar algo em um número pequeno de opções:

 Which way the car went?

Para que lado o carro foi?

Exercise

Whose/ Who/ Which/

1. I talked to the girl whose car had broken down in front of the shop.
2. Mr Richards, who is a taxi driver, lives on the corner.
3. I live in a house in Norwich, which is in East Anglia.
4. This is the girl who comes from Spain.
5. That's Peter, the boy who has just arrived at the airport.
6. Thank you very much for your e-mail, which was very interesting.
7. The man, whose father is a professor, forgot his umbrella.
8. The children who shouted in the street are not from our school.
9. The car, whose driver is a young man, is from Ireland.
10. What did you do with the money which your mother lent you?

1. He bought all the tools which are required to fix his old car.
2. This is the doctor who helped Sara recover from her illness.
3. This is the girl whom he fell in love with in Madrid
4. She managed to pass the exam in spite of all the difficulties, which didn't surprise
people who knew her.
 5. These are the kids whose parents were arrested.
6. Give me the plate which is on the table.
7. I don't know who did it.
8. The criminals, two of whom managed to escape, broke into a bank downtown.
9. The police identified the murderer whose fingerprints were on the knife.
10. I know the candidate whom I am going to support in the next elections.

Relative Pronouns (who / which / whose)

Choose the correct relative pronoun (who, which, whose).

1. This is the bank which was robbed yesterday.

2. A boy whose sister is in my class was in the bank at that time.
3. The man who robbed the bank had two pistols.
4. He wore a mask which made him look like Mickey Mouse.
5. He came with a friend who waited outside in the car.
6. The woman who gave him the money was young.
7. The bag which contained the money was yellow.
8. The people who were in the bank were very frightened.
9. A man whose mobile was ringing did not know what to do.
10. A woman whose daughter was crying tried to calm her.
11. The car which the bank robbers escaped in was orange.
12. The robber whose mask was obviously too big didn't drive.
13. The man who drove the car was nervous.
14. He didn't wait at the traffic lights which were red.
15. A police officer whose car was parked at the next corner stopped and arrested them.