- All of you yourself have to make that decision.
- Ken sent an email to the team leader and ourself.
Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns allow you to show the relationship between a subordinate clause
and the main clause. The main clause is always the one that can stand alone, while
the subordinate clause cannot. A relative pronoun links the two. Of course, since
these words are pronouns, they—just as all other pronouns—can stand in for nouns.
For example:
Willie left the offi ce to visit Mike, who was recovering in the hospital.The relative pronoun who links the main clause, Willie left the offi ce to visit Mike,
to the subordinate clause, who was recovering in the hospital.
Recalling Chapter 1, you realize that the subordinate clause is a fragment if it
stands alone:
Can stand alone: Willie left the offi ce to visit Mike.Cannot stand alone: who was recovering in the hospital.Relative pronouns include both defi nite and indefi nite varieties. Defi nite pro-
nouns are which,that, and who or whom. Indefi nite pronouns include what,which,
who,whatever,whoever, and whomever. The major difference between defi nite and
indefi nite pronouns is that, once again, the choice is ruled by the word’s function.
Defi nite pronouns can stand in for a noun in the sentence:
Jorge married Marielle, who had a child from her fi rst marriage.In this sentence, who stands in for Marielle. In addition, you should know that the
name Marielle is the antecedent, which is the word that comes before and relates to
the pronoun—in this case, who.
CHAPTER 3 Verbs, Prepositions, and Pronouns^67