Lizzy sent this question, and I'll try to present a simple and clear explanation to it.

The words that, who, whom, whose, which, where, when, and why are RELATIVE PRONOUNS. They are used to join clauses (part of a sentence that contains a subject and a verb) to make a complex sentence.

So, instead of saying:

I told you about the woman. The woman lives next door.

Do you see the cat? The cat is lying on the roof?

He couldn't read. The fact that he couldn't read surprised me.

Do you know the boy? The mother of the boy is a nurse.

I was invited by the professor. I met the professor at the conference.

I don't like the table. The table stands in the kitchen.

We can make a complex sentence by using relative pronouns like this:

relative pronoun		use	Example
who		subject or object pronoun for people	I told you about the woman who lives next door.
which		subject or object pronoun for animals and things	Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof?
which		referring to a whole sentence	He couldn't read which surprised me.
whose		possession for people animals and things	Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?
whom		object pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses (in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who)	I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.
that		subject or object pronoun for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)	I don't like the table that stands in the kitchen.

Source: http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses#h02

 

Here are some useful tips that can help you identify what relative pronoun to use:

Subject

It comes before a verb:

The chef who
won the competition studied in Paris.

The building which
is across from the park will be the new library.

She bought a car which
costed her a fortune!

Object

It is followed by a verb+noun:

The book which
Rick bought is really interesting.

_{*For people see WHOM}

Possessive

It comes before a noun and (obviously) denotes possession:

Whose phone is this?

I'm not sure whose bag that is, why don't you take it to the office and wait for someone to ask for it.

The case of WHOM

Just like the case of objects, it is not followed by a verb, but by a subject+verb, and it ALWAYS refers to people:

I ran into a friend whom I hadn't seen in years.

Whom are you going to invite to the party?

Whom is more often in written English, and American English tends to substitute it with who.

I ran into a friend (who) I hadn't seen in years.

 

WHOM vs. WHO

Check these examples:

Mrs. Dimwit consulted a cardiologist whom she met in Seattle. (She met him in Seattle=object)

Jones is the man whom I went fishing with last spring. (I went fishing with him=object)

Joyce is the girl who got the job. (She got the job =subject)

He's the one
who knows the answer. (He knows the answer=subject)

 

Get some practice here, and here, and over here too! :

 

Relative pronouns can be DEFINING or NON-DEFINING... but we'll leave that for another post!

Make vs. Do

Here's one of those eternal questions... what should I use, MAKE or DO?... how can I tell? Let's admit it, Spanish only uses HACER, so that makes this decision a bit hard... but you have to try and do your best. Some links that you may find helpful:

What's the difference? How do you mean?
When to use Make?
When to use Do?
Another reference list

Practice 1
Practice 2
Practice 3
Some more practice, remember practice makes perfect!
Try one more time before feeling bored with it.
Tired? Don't give up, here's another one. (The book they refer to is available in CAADI)

Thanks Alba for sending your doubts...

English 2. Experiences

Share the story of a memorable experience... here's mine to begin with.

Have you ever been camping?

When I was younger I used to go camping quite often. About 13 years ago I went with a group of friends to a place called "El Cielo" in Tamaulipas. We had everything prepared to stay there for two nights. We had our camping equipment, food and some water. We didn't know the place well, so we got lost on the way up. It was late, and it was getting dark, we could hear the coyotes howling. We were a bit worried because we couldn't find a good place to set our tents. Then, out of the blue, two pick-up trucks and a jeep passed by... there were lost (and a little drunk too), and they offered us a ride back to the camping site. It was risky to accept the ride in the back of a pick up truck driven by a stranger, who was also drunk, but in that moment we thought it was better than staying there in the middle of nowhere. So we jumped in the back of the pick up and prayed for a safe drive down the hill!! Fortunately, we made it safe and sound... we were really lucky. The next day we ran out of water, so we had to drink from a spring where cows and other animals also drank. At first it was disgusting, but we were so thirsty that we didn't care much. Same thing with the food, so we had to eat beans with some soil too, hehe. Anyway, the place was really beautiful and we had a great time. My friends and I still remember that trip as one of the most fantastic and fun camping experiences ever!

To all English levels: BUILDING UP YOUR VOCABULARY

Dear all,

As we have learned in class, vocabulary is a huge area of opportunity to improve your learning. I'm listing here some links with useful resources to help you work on this area.

1. How to learn new vocabulary. It's important you develop a technique to transfer new vocabulary to your long term memory. There are some websites with ideas that may help you.

2. What vocabulary to learn? It always depends on your personal database of words, your interests and your needs. It's a good idea to learn vocabulary from a text, so you can connect the meaning to the context and remember the meaning easily. However, there are some high frequency words that you'll find in most texts and have been put into lists, so it might also help you learn some of those words too. Find examples of lists here . Again, be careful with lists, since the words are totally out of context and may not be useful to your needs. Other interesting ways to buid up your vocabulary include a subscription to "Word of the Day" and some word games.

3. How about TOEFL vocabulary? You can try with sites that offer some of the most frequent words in the test.

English 2. Activity 2 TV in Mexico

This activity corresponds to Lesson 2, Unit 7, Exercise 5. After exchanging ideas with your classmates, write a short paragraph (6-8 sentences) with your opinion about TV in Mexico. Make sure you use in your paragraph some verbs to express likes and preferences (lesson 1), vocabulary about TV shows (lesson 2) and the grammar from lesson 2.
This activity will be checked in class on Thursday March 25th.
Note: All students should study lessons 1 + 2 on you own. Class on March 25th is subject to the condition mentioned in the classroom today.

English 2. Activity 1. The most... sport

Use this space to publish your paragraph, due Monday March 8th.

English 4, exercise 5. Reported Speech

Dear guys,

Spend some time checking this website, to reinforce the grammar on Reported Speech. Practice exercises can be found here.

English 4, Activity 4. Your best dream or your worst nightmare

This is your chance to share, and let's vote in class for the best one! Please make sure you write your story by Friday 26th

English 4. Activity 3 Effective topic sentences

An effective topic sentences is neither too general nor too specific. In this activity you are expected to write a paragraph (5 or 6 sentences long) with an effective topic sentence and supporting details included in supporting sentences. The purpose of the paragraph is to GIVE ADVICE on any of the following topics, or any other idea you want to add:

• The best way to stay healthy
• An effective study plan
• Earning extra money
• Organizing time

THIS WRITING ACTIVITY IS DUE MONDAY FEB 22ND, WE'LL CHECK IT IN CLASS.

English 4. Connecting contrasting ideas

Dear all,

Here's some extra information you may fin useful on the use of contrasting words.

Despite / In spite of can be followed by a noun or a gerund:
In spite of my hard work / working hard, I didn't do well on the test.
If you want to follow in spite of / despite with a noun and a verb, you must use "the fact that"."Despite the fact that the company was doing badly, they took on extra employees."

Although / Even though have the same meaning. Both are used to begin an adverb clause.
Although she was tired, she studied all night.

However / Nevertheless/ On the other hand are transitions. They are used to start a second sentence that contrast the information in the first one by showing an unexpected result. They are always followed by a comma.

However / Neverhteless express concession to the info in the first sentence.
London is very expensive. However / Nevertheless, I'd love to live there.

On the other hand is used to start a second sentence that expresses contrast with the first sentence.
This apartment is very expensive. On the other hand, it has a great view.

Here's a website with a practice activity or you can try something simple here:

PRACTICE
Rewrite these sentences, in different ways, using the word in bold.

I was feeling tired. I went down to Tacos del Julio to meet my friends there.

1) despite
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2) however,
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3) although
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4) even though…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

CCI. Activity 3. Paragraph 2

This is your chance to try again, this time choose the topic you want. Use some of the connectors found here to improve your text. We'll check your paragraph in class on Monday Feb 8th. Remember class will be 2-4 PM on M-W.

See you then!

MAC

CCI. Activity 2. Paragraph

Dear all,

To keep up with your practice, complete the following exercise.

1. Chose a topic from the options given here:
a. college life
b. poverty
c. the environment
d. exercise
e. traveling

2. Brainstorm ideas about the topic, explore options, write down, take notes.
3. Using the information from step 2, write a topic sentence. Consider the following information on topic sentences:

• It serves to introduce an idea that will be discussed later in the paragraph. Do not include many details in the sentence

4. Write two or three supportive sentences that will elaborate reason, examples, and other infrmation to support your topic sentence
5. Connect sentences using correct punctuation.
6. Check spelling

This activity is due Fridady 29 January

CANCELLATION NOTICE for Jan 25th

Dear all,

Monday 25th, 8 AM class cancelled, baby Iker needs me, he's been sick all weekend and it's taking him time to recover, so I won't be able to go to class tomorrow morning. CCI to be confirmed, I'll call school in the morning to notify you.

Thanks!

Mariana

English 4, Activity 2 Living on a Tight Budget

After completing your brainstorming, share your paragraph here... remember to include a topic sentence and supportive sentences in your paragraph!

Welcome CCI Activity 1

Dear all,

We'll use this blog in order to practice TOEFL Wrting. You will be given a topic every week. You should use no more than 30 minutes to write an essay (200 words aprox), which will be scored according to its grammatical correctness and writing style, as well as the content of your ideas and your ability to support them with good examples. You can also use websites providing tips to improve your writing.

This essay is due Wednesday 27 Jan 2010.

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: The most important aspect of a job is the money a person earns. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Welcome English 4 Activity 1. Best and Worst Quality

Dear all,

Welcome to a new semester... in this blog we'll share ideas and will work on writing skills using Passages 1 as a reference for topics and skills, so let's get started.

Best and Worst quality

Write a paragraph describing your best quality and one describing your worst quality. Start your paragraph with a topic sentence (the one that includes the main idea of the paragraph), and the rest of the sentences should be about the same quality, giving an example to illustrate it and add any relevant information. Here are some examples of people talking about their best and worst qualities, these audios can give you an idea to start writing. If you need to, click on "transcript" to read what they say... if you discover any new vocabulary, you know what to do!
Some extra vocabulary can be found in this website.
See ya!

Mariana