1. Education

Discuss in my forum

Relative Pronouns in Defining Relative Clauses

By , About.com Guide

Example: Children who (that) play with fire are in great danger of harm.
The man who bought all the books by Hemingway has died.

Generally, who and which are more usual in written English whereas that is more usual in speech when referring to things.

Relative Pronouns Used As The Object of Defining Relative Clauses

Example: That's the boy (Ø , that, who, whom) I invited to the party.
There's the house (Ø, that, which) I'd like to buy.

Relative Pronouns Used As A Possessive In A Defining Relative Clauses

Example: He's the man whose car was stolen last week.
They were sure to visit the town whose location (OR the location of which) was little known.

NOTE: It is preferable to use that (not which) after the following words: all, any(thing), every (thing), few, little, many, much, no(thing), none, some(thing), and after superlatives. When using the pronoun to refer to the object, that can be omitted.

Example: It was everything (that) he had ever wanted.
There were only a few (that) really interested him.

Using Relative Clauses

Introduction to Relative Clauses

Deciding Whether A Relative Clause is a Defining Relative Clause or Non-Defining Relative Clause

Defining Relative Clauses: Relative Pronouns

Non-Defining Relative Clauses: Relative Pronouns

Where, Why and When instead of Relative Pronouns - The Use of Prepositions in Relative Clauses

©2013 About.com. All rights reserved.