Pronouns used in defining relative clauses
The columns in the table below indicate the role of the pronounA part of speech that refers to or stands instead of a noun. E.g.: Who do you think I am? ("you", "I") in the defining relative clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb.. In the rows you can find if the pronoun refers to a person or not. Where there is more than one pronoun listed, formalNot belonging to colloquial or everyday speech; official. E.g.: I demand that Mr Smith call the person on whom the committee has decided.ity decreases as you go down the list. (For example, whom is more formal than that.)
In defining relative clauses the relative pronoun can be omitted if it is the objectA person or thing that is affected by the action of a verb or involved in the result of an action. of the clause. We use the phrase zero pronoun to indicate such a case.
| subjectThe person or thing that performs the action of a verb or that is described by a verb. E.g.: Andy has never been to Brunei. ("Andy") | object | possessive | place | timeA concept which is related to our perception of reality; that part of existence which is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| person | who that |
whom who that [zero pronoun] |
whose ... | - | - |
| non-person | which that |
which that [zero pronoun] |
... of which whose ... (for pets or personified objects only) |
where | when |
John is the person who/that knows the answer.
The boy whom/who/that/- you saw yesterday has bought my car.
The owner whose dog wins the competition will be offered a contract.
The western which/that got the most votes is The Gun with the Wind.
I can't remember the last holiday which/that/- I had.
I rarely drive cars the windows of which are broken.
This is the street where I live.
It was a day when everybody was happy.
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