Relative Clauses — English Grammar Exercises
The woman who lives next door, the town where I was born, the friend whose brother plays football — one word joins two ideas.
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Which word?
| example | |
|---|---|
| who — people | The woman who lives next door is a nurse. |
| which — things | Where's the book which was on the table? |
| that — both, no commas | The keys that you gave me. |
| where — places (= there) | This is the town where I was born. |
| when — times (= then) | The day when I met your father. |
| whose — his / her / their | A friend whose brother is a footballer. |
where or which?
where = you could say there: the restaurant where we had dinner. Otherwise which: a hotel which has a garden, the museum which we visited.
No preposition after where: ❌ the town where I was born in → ✅ the town where I was born
Can you leave it out?
- a verb follows → keep it: the man who called you
- a new subject follows → you can drop it: the phone (that) I bought
Never add it / him / them: ❌ the phone I bought it.
Commas = extra information
My sister, who lives in Canada, is visiting us. With commas: who / which, never that, and you can't leave the word out.
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ |
|---|---|
| The man which lives next door | The man who lives next door |
| The book that I bought it | The book that I bought |
| My brother, that lives in Rome, … | My brother, who lives in Rome, … |
| The hotel where has a pool | The hotel which has a pool |
| The girl who her father is a doctor | The girl whose father is a doctor |
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The woman ___ lives next door is a nurse.
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who
'The woman' is a person → 'who'. 'Which' is for things and animals.
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This is the town ___ I was born.
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where
'I was born there' → 'where'. 'Where' already means 'in that place', so nothing else is needed at the end.
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I've got a friend ___ brother plays for a football team.
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whose
'Whose' = his / her / their. It's my friend's brother → 'a friend whose brother'. 'Who brother' is not possible.
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Where's the book ___ was on the table?
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which
A book is a thing → 'which'. 'Where' doesn't work: the book itself was on the table, so it's the subject of 'was'.
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This is the phone I bought ___ last week.
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'The phone I bought' already tells us what was bought. Don't add 'it' — the relative clause doesn't repeat the noun it describes.
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My sister, ___ lives in Canada, is visiting us next week.
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who
The part between commas is extra information about a person → 'who'. After a comma, 'that' is never used.
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I'll never forget the day ___ I met your father.
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when
'The day' is a time → 'when' (= on that day). 'Where' is for places.
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The man ___ called you this morning didn't leave his name.
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who
The pronoun is the subject here — straight after it comes the verb 'called'. A subject pronoun can't be left out, and a man is a person → 'who'.
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We stayed in a hotel ___ had a beautiful garden.
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which
The hotel itself had the garden — the hotel is the subject of 'had' → 'which'. 'Where' only works when you could say 'there': 'the hotel where we stayed'.
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The Eiffel Tower, ___ is over 300 metres tall, was built in 1889.
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which
Extra information between commas about a thing → 'which'. 'That' can't follow a comma, and 'who' is for people.
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Do you know the man in the blue jacket ___ is talking to Tom?
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who
The man is talking, not the jacket — so the pronoun describes a person → 'who', even though 'jacket' is the nearest noun.
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That's the singer ___ new album everyone is talking about.
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whose
It's the singer's album → 'whose' (= her / his). 'Who's' means 'who is', which doesn't fit before 'new album'.
Relative Clauses in English: Joining Two Ideas
A relative clause adds information about a noun without starting a new sentence: I've got a friend. Her brother plays football becomes I've got a friend whose brother plays football. The relative word — who, which, that, where, when or whose — does two jobs at once: it links the clause to the noun and takes that noun's place inside the clause. Most errors come from forgetting the second job. Learners repeat the noun the relative word has already replaced (the phone I bought it), add a preposition that where already contains (the town where I was born in), or choose the word by the meaning of the noun alone rather than by the role it plays in the clause. Many languages use a single word for people and things, which is why who and which are confused even by learners who know the rule.
Who, Which and That
Who refers to people and which to things and animals: The woman who lives next door is a nurse, Where's the book which was on the table? That can replace either, and in everyday speech it often does: the keys that you gave me. The restriction is punctuation. That is only used in clauses without commas — clauses that identify which person or thing we mean. Once the clause is set off by commas, only who and which are possible. The most reliable check is to find the noun the clause actually describes, which is not always the nearest one: in the man in the blue jacket who is talking to Tom, the man is talking, not the jacket.
Where or Which: The Place Trap
Learners tend to use where after any noun that names a place, but where only works when it means there: the restaurant where we had dinner — we had dinner there. If the place is the subject of the verb (a hotel which has a garden) or its object (the museum which we visited), the correct word is which, because nobody says we visited there. Substituting there settles almost every case. The same logic explains why the town where I was born in is wrong: where already includes the meaning of in, so the preposition is said twice. When follows the same pattern for time, replacing then: the day when I met your father.
Leaving Out the Pronoun
English often drops the relative pronoun — the phone I bought last week, the cake you made — and learners who notice this sometimes drop it everywhere. The rule depends on what follows the gap. If a new subject follows (I bought, you made), the pronoun is the object of the clause and can be omitted. If a verb follows directly (who called you, that came this morning), the pronoun is the subject and has to stay: the man called you didn't leave his name is not a sentence. In clauses with commas, the pronoun is never omitted.
Common Mistakes with Relative Clauses
- ✗ The man which lives next door → ✓ The man who lives next door
- ✗ The book that I bought it → ✓ The book that I bought
- ✗ My brother, that lives in Rome, … → ✓ My brother, who lives in Rome, …
- ✗ The town where I was born in → ✓ The town where I was born
- ✗ The hotel where has a pool → ✓ The hotel which has a pool
- ✗ The girl who her father is a doctor → ✓ The girl whose father is a doctor
Frequently Asked Questions
When do you use who, which and that?
Use 'who' for people ('the woman who lives next door') and 'which' for things and animals ('the book which was on the table'). 'That' can replace either of them, but only in clauses without commas: 'the keys that you gave me'. After a comma, use 'who' or 'which' — never 'that': 'My sister, who lives in Canada, is visiting us.'
What is the difference between where and which for places?
Use 'where' when you could say 'there' in the clause: 'the restaurant where we had dinner' — we had dinner there. Use 'which' when the place is the subject or object of the verb: 'a hotel which has a garden' (the hotel has it), 'the museum which we visited' (we visited the museum). Because 'where' already means 'in that place', don't add 'in' at the end: 'the town where I was born', not 'where I was born in'.
When can you leave out who, which or that?
Look at what comes straight after the gap. If a new subject follows, you can leave the pronoun out: 'the phone (that) I bought last week'. If a verb follows, the pronoun is the subject and must stay: 'the man who called you', never 'the man called you'. In clauses with commas, the pronoun can never be left out.
What is the difference between whose and who's?
'Whose' means 'his', 'her' or 'their' and always comes before a noun: 'the man whose car was stolen' — his car. 'Who's' is a short form of 'who is' or 'who has': 'Who's coming tonight?' They sound the same, which is why they are often confused in writing.