Introduction
Pronouns are words used to avoid repetitions of a noun.
Relative pronouns are used to introduce relative clauses.
Form
Relative pronouns are used to define or identify the noun that leads them. They usually come after nouns and also can refer to singular or plural without any difference between male and female. They introduce dependent (or relative) clauses and connect them to independent clauses.
Relative pronouns refer to people or things by replacing the subject expressed in the main clause to avoid the repetition of it in the relative clause. The main relative pronouns of people and things are: which, who and that.
Example
- We are waiting at the bus stop, which is near the supermarket.
- She is an air hostess for the airline which Mary works for.
- We are going on a train which has free internet.
- I am the one who parked the car.
- He is the man who went by foot.
- They are the men who carried out suitcases.
- I bought the mobile phone that you told me about.
- The ship that I went on yesterday was great.
- These are the streets that were designed by my friend.
Use
We use relative pronouns which, who and that to identify people and things and to add secondary/additional information about them.
We use also which to avoid the repetition of that (please note that we can sometimes leave out this pronoun).
The use of the relative pronouns of people and things:
| Relative Pronouns | People | Things |
|---|---|---|
| Which | x | √ |
| Who | √ | x |
| That | √ | √ |
Summary
Relative pronouns are used to introduce relative clauses. They refer to people or things by replacing the subject expressed in the main clause to avoid the repetition of it in the relative clause.
They usually come after nouns and can refer to singular or plural without any difference between male and female.
They are: which (for things), who (for people) and that (for both, people and things).
For example:
— “This is the restaurant which has an Italian menu.” = We use which because restaurant is a thing.
— “The man who owns this restaurant is Italian.” = We use who because man refers to a person.
— “The man that owns this restaurant is Italian.” / “This is the restaurant that has an Italian menu.” = That can refer both to people and to things.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.