RELATIVE PRONOUNS THAT, WHO OR WHICH.

 RELATIVE PRONOUNS THAT, WHO OR WHICH.

The waiter who served us yesterday was rude.

Pronouns are words that take the place of a noun. Relative pronouns are used at the beginning of an adjective clause (a dependent clause that modifies a noun). The three most common relative pronouns are who, which and that.

Who has two other forms, the object form whom and the possessive form whose.

• Who and whom are used mainly for people. However, these pronouns can also be used to refer to animals that are mentioned by name and seen as persons.
  • The musician who wrote this song is Canadian.
  • The witnesses whom I interviewed gave conflicting evidence.
  • The vacuum scared our cat Scooter, who was sleeping on the rug.
• Whose can be used for people, animals or things:
  • The man whose daughter won the tournament is a tennis coach.
  • A dog whose owner lets it run loose may cause an accident.
  • The tree whose branches shade my kitchen window is an oak.

Which is used for animals in general or things.

• Bridget visited the park with her dog, which likes to chase squirrels.
• Jason bought the top hybrid car, which will help him save on gas.