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relative clauses
These come after relative pronounswho/whom for people,whieh /that for things,whose for
possession. Relative elausesean refer to the subjeet of the sentenee or the objeet. They behave in
different ways. In objeet c1auses,it is possible to leave out the relative pronoun whieh /that.
G/aciers are rivers of ice which form in co/d c/imates on mountains. The amount of fresh
water (that) g/aciers contain is greater than a/I other /akes and rivers on Earth.
Subject: whieh form in co/d c/imates This refers toglaciers, the subjeet ofform.
Objeet: that glaciers contain This refers towater, the object ofcontain.
Note that in a subject c1ausethere is never a subject pronoun after the relative pronoun.
G/aciers are rivers of iee. They form in co/d c/imates on mountains.
G/aciers are rivers of ice which #terform in co/d c/imates on mountains.subject: whoorthat
Usewho/that to refer to people in subject relative c1auses.When we refer to a named
person we generally usewho, andthat in informal speech and writing.
Charles Dickens was the nove/ist who wrote David Copperfield.
Louis Agassiz was the first scientist who argued that there had been an lee Age in the past.subject:whichorthat
Usewhieh /that to refer to things in subject relative clauses.
Last week I bought anew computer which is much faster than the o/d one.
In 7840 Agassiz pub/ished Etudessur lesglacierswhich was the first book to
deseribe the movements of g/aciers and the way they changed the landscape.subject: whose
Usewhose to refer to things belonging to people.
That was the man whose car was sto/en.
Louis Agassiz hadasan, A/exander, whose main interest was mining.omitting the relative pronoun
When you omit the relative pronoun in an object clause, you might also need t6
omit the verb after it.
The photos (which were) used on the web site are fascinating.
The g/aciers (which were) deseribed in the book are in danger of me/ting.objeet: who,that, whom or zero
Usewho/whom /that in an object relative c1ausewhen we refer to people.
Whom is used in formai language, or after a preposition.
He is one of the scientists whoIwhom /that I admire most.
It is possible to leave out the relative pronoun in this kind of sentence.
He is one of the scientists I admire most.objeet: which, thator zero
Usewhieh /that in an object relative clause when we refer to people.
This isPickwickPapers,one of the first books which Ithat Dickens wrote.
It is possible to leave out the relative pronoun in this kind of sentence.
This isPickwickPapers,one of the first books Dickens wrote.objeet: ot which
Useof whieh in an object relative clause when we refer to one thing belonging to another.
It is used in formai language.
This is his third book, the pub/ication of which made such an impression.
It is possible to usewhose in informal language. It is also possible to avoid this kind of construction.
This is his third book, whose pub/ication made such an impression.
This is his third book, the one that made such an impression when it was pub/ished.