Relative clauses 3: whose/whom/where |
| A |
Whose
We use whose in relative clauses instead of his/her/their:
we helped some people - their car had broken down
→ We helped some people whose car had broken down.
We use whose mostly for people:
- A widow is a woman whose husband is dead. (her husband is dead)
- What's the name of the man whose car you borrowed? (you borrowed his car)
- I met someone whose brother I went to school with. (I went to school with his/her brother)
Compare who and whose:
- I met a man who knows you. (he knows you)
- I met a man whose sister knows you. (his sister knows you)
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| B |
Whom
Whom is possible instead of who when it is the object of the verb in the relative clause (like the sentences in Unit 938):
- George is a person whom I admire very much. (I admire him)
You can also use whom with a preposition (to whom / from whom / with whom etc.):
- I like the people with whom I work. (I work with them)
Whom is a formal word and we do not often use it in this way. We usually prefer who or that, or nothing (see Unit 93). So we usually say:
- ... a person who/that I admire a lot or ... a person I admire a lot
- ... the people who/that I work with or ... the people I work with
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| C |
Where
You can use where in a relative clause to talk about a place:
the restaurant - we had lunch there - it was near the airport
→ The restaurant where we had lunch was near the airport.
- I recently went back to the town where I grew up.
(or ... the town I grew up in or ... the town that I grew up in)
- I would like to live in a place where there is plenty of sunshine.
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| D |
We say:
| the day / the year / the time etc. |
something happens or
that something happens |
- I can't meet you on Friday. That's the day (that) I'm going away.
- The last time (that) I saw Anna, she looked great.
- I haven't seen Jack and Helen since the year (that) they got married.
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| E |
We say:
| the reason |
something happens or
that/whysomething happens |
- The reason I'm phoning is to ask your advice. (or The reason that I'm phoning / The reason why I'm phoning).
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