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The following is a mini-tutorial on the uses of 'who,' 'whom,' and 'whose.' If you already know how to use these words, you can skip the explanation and go directly to the exercises.
Subjects, Objects and Possessive Forms
To understand how to use 'who,' 'whom,' and 'whose,' you first have to understand the difference between subjects, objects, and possessive forms.
Subjects do an action:
- He loves movies.
- She goes to school.
- We enjoy Chinese food.
Objects receive an action:
- The teachers like him.
- Thomas knows her.
- The actor smiled at us.
Possessive forms tell us the person something belongs to:
- His bike is broken.
- I like her new book.
- The teacher graded our homework.
'Who' is a Subject Pronoun
'Who' is a subject pronoun like 'he,' 'she' and 'we' in the examples above. We use 'who' to ask which person does an action or which person is a certain way.
Examples:
- Who made the birthday cake?
- Who is in the kitchen?
- Who is going to do the dishes?
'Whom' is an Object Pronoun
'Whom' is an object pronoun like 'him,' 'her' and 'us.' We use 'whom' to ask which person receives an action.
Examples:
- Whom are you going to invite?
- Whom did he blame for the accident?
- Whom did he hire to do the job?
'Whose' is a Possessive Pronoun
'Whose' is a possessive pronoun like 'his,' 'her' and 'our.' We use 'whose' to find out which person something belongs to.
Examples:
- Whose camera is this?
- Whose dog is barking outside?
- Whose cell phone keeps ringing?
'Who,' 'Whom' and 'Whose' in Indirect Questions
The sentence below contains an example of an indirect question:
- I don't know whom he invited.
Such sentences usually start with a phrase such as: 'I am not sure' or 'He doesn't know' or 'We don't care.' Just ignore the first part of the sentence and look at the indirect question when deciding whether to use 'who,' 'whom' or 'whose.' Ask yourself if the indirect question requires a subject, object, or possessive form.
Examples:
- He doesn't know who the boss of the company is. subject of the indirect question
- I don't care whom you invite. object of the indirect question
- She isn't sure whose car that is. 'Whose' shows possession of car.
'Who,' 'Whom' and 'Whose' in Adjective Clauses
The sentence below contains an example of an adjective clause:
Adjective clauses are used to describe a noun in the main sentence. In the example above, the adjective clause tells us about 'the man.' Just ignore the main sentence and look at the adjective clause when deciding whether to use 'who,' 'whom' or 'whose.' Ask yourself if the adjective clause requires a subject, object, or possessive form.
Examples:
- We knew the actress who starred in the movie. subject of adjective clause
- They hired the man whom we interviewed last week. object of adjective clause
- She knew the family whose house we bought. 'Whose' shows possession of house.
'Whom' Less Common
The form 'whom' is becoming less and less common in English. Many native English speakers think 'whom' sounds outdated or strange. This trend is particularly common in the United States. Especially when combined with prepositions, most people prefer to use 'who' as the object pronoun. To most native English speakers, the examples below sound quite natural.
Examples:
- Who did you come to the party with?
- I don't know who he gave the book to.
- That is the woman who I was talking to.
- Who did you get that from?
- Do you have any idea who he sold his car to?
- That is the person who I got the information from.
Exercises
- Content
- Exercises and Tests
- Exercises and tests on relative clauses
We use relative clauses to give additional information about something without starting another sentence. By combining sentences with a relative clause, your text becomes more fluent and you can avoid repeating certain words.
How to Form Relative Clauses Level: lower intermediate
Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. You could say:
A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?
That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing – you want to know who the girl is.
Do you know the girl …
As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information – the girl is talking to Tom. Use „the girl“ only in the first part of the sentence, in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun „who“). So the final sentence is:
Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?
Relative Pronouns Level: lower intermediate
relative pronoun | use | example |
---|---|---|
who | subject or object pronoun for people | I told you about the woman who lives next door. |
which | subject or object pronoun for animals and things | Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? |
which | referring to a whole sentence | He couldn’t read, which surprised me. |
whose | possession for people animals and things | Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse? |
whom | object pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who) | I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference. |
that | subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible) | I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen. |
Subject Pronoun or Object Pronoun? Level: lower intermediate
Subject and object pronouns cannot be distinguished by their forms - who, which, that are used for subject and object pronouns. You can, however, distinguish them as follows:
If the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, the relative pronoun is a subject pronoun. Subject pronouns must always be used.
the apple whichis lying on the table
If the relative pronoun is not followed by a verb (but by a noun or pronoun), the relative pronoun is an object pronoun. Object pronouns can be dropped in defining relative clauses, which are then called Contact Clauses.
the apple (which)George lay on the table
Relative Adverbs Level: intermediate
A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the sentence easier to understand.
This is the shop in which I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.
relative adverb | meaning | use | example |
---|---|---|---|
when | in/on which | refers to a time expression | the day when we met him |
where | in/at which | refers to a place | the place where we met him |
why | for which | refers to a reason | the reason why we met him |
Defining Relative Clauses Level: lower intermediate
Defining relative clauses (also called identifying relative clauses or restrictive relative clauses) give detailed information defining a general term or expression. Defining relative clauses are not put in commas.
Imagine, Tom is in a room with five girls. One girl is talking to Tom and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause defines which of the five girls you mean.
Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?
Defining relative clauses are often used in definitions.
A seaman is someone who works on a ship.
Object pronouns in defining relative clauses can be dropped. (Sentences with a relative clause without the relative pronoun are called Contact Clauses.)
The boy (who/whom) we met yesterday is very nice.
Non-Defining Relative Clauses Level: upper intermediate
![Whose Whose](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125599176/165382706.jpg)
Non-defining relative clauses (also called non-identifying relative clauses or non-restrictive relative clauses) give additional information on something, but do not define it. Non-defining relative clauses are put in commas.
Imagine, Tom is in a room with only one girl. The two are talking to each other and you ask somebody whether he knows this girl. Here the relative clause is non-defining because in this situation it is obvious which girl you mean.
Do you know the girl, who is talking to Tom?
Note: In non-defining relative clauses, who/which may not be replaced with that.
Object pronouns in non-defining relative clauses must be used.
Jim, who/whom we met yesterday, is very nice.
How to Shorten Relative Clauses? Level: intermediate
Relative clauses with who, which, that as subject pronoun can be replaced with a participle. This makes the sentence shorter and easier to understand.
I told you about the woman who lives next door. – I told you about the woman living next door.
Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? – Do you see the cat lying on the roof?
Exercises on Relative Clauses
Relative Pronouns and Relative Adverbs
Relative Clauses and Contact Clauses
Tests
- Relative Clauses: Level 1 • Level 2 • Level 3 • Level 4