Relative Pronouns for intermediate learners

relative pronouns relatives that which who whom whose

Relative pronouns are matchmakers of English grammar. They come in the beginning of relative clauses and join two clauses together. Ready to learn about them?

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What Are Relative Pronouns?

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. Relative clauses modify a noun or a noun phrase in the sentence.

Types of Relative Clauses

We have two types of relative clause:

Defining: it is essential to the meaning of the sentence
Non-defining: it is not essential to the meaning of the sentence

Common Relative Pronouns

Common relative pronouns in English are:

Relative Pronouns	What they are referring to
Who	people and sometimes pet animals
Which	animals and things
That	people, animals and things

When Do We Use Relative Pronouns?

We place relative pronouns directly after the noun or pronoun they are referring to. Look at the following examples:

This is the car which Jake bought. (defining)

Mary, who is my best friend, just bought a new house. (non-defining)

Tim Berners-Lee is the man that invented the World Wide Web. (defining)

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to people or things without saying exactly who or what they are. In this lesson, we will learn more about these pronouns.

Dummy Pronouns

Dummy pronouns function grammatically the same as other pronouns, except they do not refer to a person or thing like normal pronouns do.

Reciprocal Pronouns

When two or more people are doing the same thing and receiving the consequences of that action at the same time we use reciprocal pronouns.

Impersonal Pronouns

An impersonal pronoun does not refer to a specific person or thing. These pronouns help us talk about a thing or person without mentioning what or who.

Nominal Relative Pronouns

Nominal relative pronouns are also known as free relative pronouns are used to introduce a relative clause. Click here to learn!

Archaic Pronouns

Although we don't use 'archaic' or old pronouns today, but if you're a fan of works of Shakespeare, or other classic works you need to learn about them.

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