Last updated on October 28th, 2023 at 05:26 pm
A pronoun is a word that is used in the place of a noun. A relative pronoun is one that is used to refer to nouns mentioned previously, whether they are people, places, things, animals, or ideas. Relative pronouns can be used to join two sentences or to connect a clause/phrase to a noun or pronoun. Therefore, a relative clause is a part of a sentence that has a verb in it and is joined to the rest of the sentence with relative pronouns.
The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that.
WHO
“Who” is always used to persons, but is used as the subject of the dependent clause.
Examples:
The doctor who examined me has just died.
I like the students who work hard.
The man who lives next to the door is a thief.
My mother, who was born in Kigali, has always been a great advisor.
WHOSE
“Whose” can be used for people, animals, or things for the possessive case.
Examples:
The man whose wife died recently is sick.
This is Amina, whose brother is sick.
I have a friend whose dog is always barking.
WHICH
“Which” is used for animals in general or things.
Examples:
Vegetables are foods which are rich in vitamins.
Where is the fruits which was in the fridge?
I don’t like stories which have unhappy endings.
Rutikanga works for a company which owns this building.
THAT
“That” can be used for people, animals or things.
Examples:
The house that Jack has built is expensive.
I like the cows that give much milk.
The woman that visited you is a doctor
WHOM
“Whom” is used for persons but as the object of the verb in the dependent clause.
Examples:
Bob is a person whom I admire very much.
I like the people with whom I work.
Those are the students whom you taught.
Where: You can use “where” in a relative clause to talk about a place.
Examples:
The restaurant where we had lunch was near the airport.
Karongi is the district where I live.
I am back in the town where I grew up.
They want to live in a place where there is plenty of sunshine.
Leave a comment