Relative Determiners

Relative determiners modify nouns within a relative clause. Follow the article to learn more about them.

intermediate
Relative Determiners in the English Grammar

What Are Relative Determiners?

Relative determiners are used before nouns to connect the relative clause to an independent clause.

What are Relative Determiners Used for?

Relative determiners connect a dependent clause to the main clause. Relative determiners and the nominal relative clause act as an object or a subject for the independent/main clause.

What are Relative Determiners' Position?

using the relative determiner 'what' in a sentence

  1. Relative determiners head a nominal relative clause.
  2. Relative determiners are always followed by a noun/noun phrase.

Here is the list of relative determiners with examples:

What book to buy doesn't matter.

'What book to buy' is a subject for 'doesn't matter.' 'What' is used before 'book.'

I don't know which book you bought.

'Which book you bought' is an object for 'know'. 'Which' is used before a noun.

  • Possessive Relative Determiner 'Whose'

Relative determiner 'whose' shows possession.

I don't know whose book you have.

'Whose' heads the nominal relative clause 'whose book you have.'

Tip!

'Whose', 'what' and 'which' are not followed by a noun if they are interrogative pronouns. Look at an example:

Whose are these?

What do you want?

Which is better?

Review

Relative determiners are used to connect a dependant clause to the main clause. They are used:

  • as the head of a nominal relative clause
  • always followed by a noun/noun phrase

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