Relative (Adjective) Clauses

Like single-word adjectives, a relative (adjective) clause modifies nouns and answers the question what or which? A relative clause is a type of dependent clause: Tom, _who loves baseball__, goes to the batting cages every Saturday morning_. The relative clause, “… who loves baseball” modifies the noun, “Tom”.

• Restricted (essential) relative clauses
• A restricted or essential relative clause is one that is required to understand the meaning of the sentence.
• The boy who wore the red sweater won the lottery.
• If the restricted relative clause (i.e., … who wore the red sweater…) were to be removed from the sentence, it would not be clear which boy won the lottery.
• The school that burned to the ground was being rebuilt due to the generosity of an anonymous donor.
• The relative pronoun, that, always begins a restricted relative clause.
• The baseball which left Babe Ruth’s bat and landed in the pond outside of the stadium was an instant collectible.
• If the restricted relative clause (i.e., … which left Babe Ruth’s bat and landed in the pond outside of the stadium…) were to be removed from the sentence, it would not have the same meaning.

Unrestricted (non-essential) relative clauses

• An unrestricted (non-essential) relative clause provides extra information and its removal does not interfere with the overall meaning of the sentence.

• Katie, who loves to play video games, is a good student and seldom misses class.
• The chair, which was painted red, is a collectible.
• *My biological Mom who has red hair loves to visit the beauty salon.
  • Notice in this last example, “My biological Mom…” the omission of the commas. Unrestricted relative clauses require commas to separate them from the rest of the sentences. In the third example, it should read as follows: My biological Mom, who has red hair, loves to visit the beauty salon.
  • Notice that if this example were left without commas to separate the relative clause, it would be illogical. Since I can only have one biological Mom, I don’t need the relative clause, “… who has red hair” does distinguish between two or more other Moms since there can only be one (biological Mom). 😉

These are the most common relative pronouns in English. They are used to introduce relative clauses, which provide additional information about a noun in the main clause of a sentence.

Relative Pronoun	Function	Example
who	subject	The person who called me
whom	object	The person whom I called
whose	possessive	The person whose car is red
which	subject/object	The book which I borrowed
that	subject/object	The book that I borrowed
what	subject/object	I like what you did
whoever	subject	Whoever wants to come can join us
whomever	object	Give it to whomever you choose
whichever	subject/object	Choose whichever you like
whosever	possessive	You may borrow whosever book you want

Examples

Who

• The teacher who inspired me most was Mrs. Rodriguez.
• Do you know who left this book on the table?
• The athlete who wins the race will receive a gold medal.

Whom

• To whom did you address the letter?
• The student whom the teacher selected will lead the presentation.
• I’m not sure with whom she plans to attend the concert.

Whose

• The dog whose tail is wagging seems very friendly.
• The author whose book I’m reading is quite famous.
• Do you know whose phone charger this is?

That

• The cake that you baked is delicious!
• Is this the bus that goes to the city center?
• The idea that she proposed was brilliant.

Which

• I can’t decide which dress to wear to the party.
• The museum, which closes at 5 pm, has an amazing exhibit.
• Of the two movies, which did you prefer?

What

• I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
• What you do today will impact your future.
• I’m eager to see what happens next.

Whatever

• You can choose whatever dessert you like.
• I’ll support you in whatever decision you make.
• Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.

Whomever

• Whomever finishes their work first can leave early.
• I’ll go to the dance with whomever asks me.
• The principal will hire whomever is best qualified for the job.

Whichever

• You can take whichever seat you prefer.
• Whichever path you choose, make sure it leads toward your goal.
• Order whichever pizza sounds best to you.

Whosever

• Whosever jacket this is left it in the classroom.
• Whosever idea this was deserves a lot of credit.
• I’ll return this book to whosever it is.