English at FACEC: 08/2010

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.