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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.
2. Relative clauses to postmodify a noun
We use relative clauses to postmodify a noun - 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
My uncle, who [he] was born in Hong Kong, lived most of his life overseas.
I have just read Orwells 1984, which [it] is one of the most frightening books ever written.
as object of a clause :
He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired.
We are going back to Venice, which we first visited thirty years ago.
We can also use who as the object.
He finally met Paul McCartney, who he had always admired.
WARNING:
The relative pronoun is the object of the clause.
We do not repeat the object:
He finally met Paul McCartney, whom he had always admired [him].
We are going back to Venice, which we first visited [it] thirty years ago.
as object of a preposition:
He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, who he had read about in the newspaper.
Thats the programme which we listened to last night.
- We sometimes use whom instead of who:
He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, whom he had read about in the newspaper.
- The preposition sometimes comes in front of the relative pronoun whom or which:
He decided to telephone Mrs. Jackson, about whom he had read in the newspaper.
Thats the programme to which we listened last night.
5. 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.
6. Using "which" to give more information
We often use the relative pronoun which to say something about a clause:
He was usually late, which always annoyed his father.
Weve missed our train, which means we may be late.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/clause-phraseand-sentence/verb-patterns/relative-clauses