Sunday, October 26, 2014

Relative Pronouns!!

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?
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 which is 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


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