c)That's the girl (whose / who) brother is famous.
d)The town (which / whose) we visited was small.
3Join the sentences. Use who or which.
I have a friend who plays the drums.
a)I have a friend. He plays the drums.
b)This is a film. It won three Oscars.
c)Here is the cake. I made it.
4Complete the definition.
bakes bread / opens doors / you watch films
a)A baker is a person who …
b)A key is a thing which …
c)A cinema is a place where …
1A who or which? Fill in.
who → people. which → things and animals.
a)a teacher …who
b)a car …which
c)a dog …which
d)my aunt …who
e)a book …which
f)the boy …who
2Circle the correct pronoun.
whose = of whom (her brother → whose brother)
a)The woman (who / which) lives here is a nurse.who
b)The bike (who / which) I bought is red.which
c)That's the girl (whose / who) brother is famous.whose
d)The town (which / whose) we visited was small.which
3Join the sentences. Use who or which.
I have a friend who plays the drums.
a)I have a friend. He plays the drums.I have a friend who plays the drums.
b)This is a film. It won three Oscars.This is a film which won three Oscars.
c)Here is the cake. I made it.Here is the cake which I made.
4Complete the definition.
bakes bread / opens doors / you watch films
a)A baker is a person who …… bakes bread.
b)A key is a thing which …… opens doors.
c)A cinema is a place where …… you watch films.
1A who, which or whose? Fill in.
who → people. which → things and animals. whose → possession (his, her, their). that can replace who and which.
a)The girl … sits next to me is from Poland.
b)This is the book … I told you about.
c)That's the man … dog bit me.
d)The film … we saw was boring.
e)People … live in cities often don't have a garden.
2Join the two sentences with a relative clause.
This is my friend who lives in London.
a)This is my friend. She lives in London.
b)I bought a phone. It was very cheap.
c)That's the teacher. Her class won the prize.
d)We visited a castle. It is 800 years old.
3Can you leave out the relative pronoun? Write yes or no and explain in a few words.
You can leave it out when the relative pronoun is the object (a new subject follows: we, I …). Not when it is the subject of the relative clause.
a)The boy who called you is my cousin.
b)The pizza which we ordered was cold.
c)The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
d)The song that I like best is by Adele.
4Define the word with a relative clause.
A dentist is a person who … / A library is a place where …
a)a dentist
b)a library
c)a pilot
d)a dictionary
1A who, which or whose? Fill in.
who → people. which → things and animals. whose → possession (his, her, their). that can replace who and which.
a)The girl … sits next to me is from Poland.who
b)This is the book … I told you about.which (that)
c)That's the man … dog bit me.whose
d)The film … we saw was boring.which (that)
e)People … live in cities often don't have a garden.who
2Join the two sentences with a relative clause.
This is my friend who lives in London.
a)This is my friend. She lives in London.This is my friend who lives in London.
b)I bought a phone. It was very cheap.I bought a phone which was very cheap.
c)That's the teacher. Her class won the prize.That's the teacher whose class won the prize.
d)We visited a castle. It is 800 years old.We visited a castle which is 800 years old.
3Can you leave out the relative pronoun? Write yes or no and explain in a few words.
You can leave it out when the relative pronoun is the object (a new subject follows: we, I …). Not when it is the subject of the relative clause.
a)The boy who called you is my cousin.no — who is the subject (the boy called)
b)The pizza which we ordered was cold.yes — which is the object (we ordered)
c)The woman who lives next door is a doctor.no — who is the subject
d)The song that I like best is by Adele.yes — that is the object (I like)
4Define the word with a relative clause.
A dentist is a person who … / A library is a place where …
a)a dentistA dentist is a person who looks after your teeth.
b)a libraryA library is a place where you can borrow books.
c)a pilotA pilot is a person who flies a plane.
d)a dictionaryA dictionary is a book which explains words.
1Correct the mistakes.
who's = who is; the possessive is whose. When you leave out the pronoun, do not repeat the object (it).
a)The man which lives next door is a pilot.
b)This is the girl who's bag was stolen.
c)The book who I read was great.
d)The people which live here are friendly.
e)That is the dog whose bit me.
f)The film we saw it was boring.
2Join the sentences. Leave out the relative pronoun where possible and mark those sentences with a star.
Object pronoun (a new subject follows) → can be left out. Subject pronoun and whose → never.
a)That is the house. My grandparents built it.
b)She is the teacher. She gives the most homework.
c)These are the shoes. I want them.
d)He is the author. His book sold a million copies.
3Defining or non-defining? Add commas where needed and explain in a few words.
Non-defining clauses give extra information and stand between commas; the sentence works without them. No that in non-defining clauses.
a)My brother who lives in Cologne is a doctor. (I have two brothers.)
b)My brother who lives in Cologne is a doctor. (I have one brother.)
c)The Thames which flows through London is 346 km long.
4Write a quiz with five questions. Each question is a definition with a relative clause; give the answers on a separate line.
What do you call a person who …? — What is a place where …?
a)a person, a thing, an animal, a place, a day
1Correct the mistakes.
who's = who is; the possessive is whose. When you leave out the pronoun, do not repeat the object (it).
a)The man which lives next door is a pilot.The man who lives next door is a pilot.
b)This is the girl who's bag was stolen.This is the girl whose bag was stolen.
c)The book who I read was great.The book which I read was great.
d)The people which live here are friendly.The people who live here are friendly.
e)That is the dog whose bit me.That is the dog which bit me.
f)The film we saw it was boring.The film we saw was boring.
2Join the sentences. Leave out the relative pronoun where possible and mark those sentences with a star.
Object pronoun (a new subject follows) → can be left out. Subject pronoun and whose → never.
a)That is the house. My grandparents built it.That is the house (which) my grandparents built. *
b)She is the teacher. She gives the most homework.She is the teacher who gives the most homework.
c)These are the shoes. I want them.These are the shoes (which) I want. *
d)He is the author. His book sold a million copies.He is the author whose book sold a million copies.
3Defining or non-defining? Add commas where needed and explain in a few words.
Non-defining clauses give extra information and stand between commas; the sentence works without them. No that in non-defining clauses.
a)My brother who lives in Cologne is a doctor. (I have two brothers.)No commas — the clause tells us which brother (defining).
b)My brother who lives in Cologne is a doctor. (I have one brother.)My brother, who lives in Cologne, is a doctor. — extra information (non-defining).
c)The Thames which flows through London is 346 km long.The Thames, which flows through London, is 346 km long. — there is only one Thames, so the clause is extra information.
4Write a quiz with five questions. Each question is a definition with a relative clause; give the answers on a separate line.
What do you call a person who …? — What is a place where …?
a)a person, a thing, an animal, a place, a dayOwn quiz. Check: who for people, which/that for things and animals, where for places, when for the day.
who, which, whose
who for people, which for things and animals, whose for possession. that can replace who and which in defining clauses. where for places, when for times.
the girl who sits next to methe book which I told you aboutthe man whose dog bit me
Leaving out the pronoun
When the relative pronoun is the object of the clause (a new subject follows), you can leave it out. When it is the subject, you cannot.
The film (which) we saw was boring. — object, can be left outThe boy who called you is my cousin. — subject, must stay
Commas
Defining clauses (they tell us which one) have no commas. Non-defining clauses (extra information) stand between commas and never use that.
My brother who lives in Cologne is a doctor. (I have several brothers.)My brother, who lives in Cologne, is a doctor. (I have one brother.)