Relative clauses

• 9 Relative clauses

  9.1

  who vs. which / that

  

  

  Relative clauses provide additional information about a preceding noun. They are introduced by relative pronouns:

  • who: refers to people.
  • which: refers to things.
  • that: refers to either people or things (common in informal speech).

  （冠词）The 女人woman （关系代词）who 住lives 隔壁next door 是is 一名a 医生doctor.

  The woman living next door is a doctor.

  这This 是is （冠词）the 书book （关系代词）which 获得won （冠词）the 奖prize.

  That is the award-winning book.

  Note Relative pronouns go immediately after the noun they refer to, introducing supplementary information.

  9.2

  where, when, whose

  • where: refers to place. when: refers to time. whose: indicates possession ("'s").

  那是That's （冠词）the 镇town （在那里）where 我I 长大grew up.

  That is the town where I grew up.

  她是She's （冠词）the 作家writer （谁的）whose 书books 我I 喜爱love.

  She is the writer whose works I like.

  Note whose is followed directly by a noun (whose books), indicating "that person's books".

  9.3

  Omitting Relative Pronouns

  When the relative pronoun acts as the object in the clause, it can be omitted (common in both speech and writing):

  （冠词）The 电影film 我们(that) we 看saw （是）was 很棒great.

  The movie (that) we watched was great.

  How to decide:

  • If the relative pronoun is the subject (followed immediately by a verb) → cannot omit.
  • If the relative pronoun is the object (followed by "subject + verb") → can omit.

  Note Must be retained when acting as subject: the man who called (cannot omit who).

  Common Errors

  • ❌ ~~The man which lives next door…~~ → ✓ The man who / that… — Do not use which for people.
  • ❌ ~~The book what I read…~~ → ✓ The book that / which I read… — English has no usage of what as a relative pronoun.
  • ❌ ~~This is the house which I live.~~ → ✓ …the house where I live / …the house which I live in. — When the clause lacks a preposition, either use where or supply the missing preposition.
  • ❌ ~~The friend who I met him yesterday…~~ → ✓ The friend who I met yesterday… — Since the relative pronoun already replaces the object, him / it cannot appear again in the clause.

All topics · English Grammar · B1